EOTO #1: The History of Cloud Computing

 

As forms of communication develop and new media arises, the need for a place to store these becomes dire. Thus, a new form of technology arose: Cloud Computing. In a Brief History of Cloud Computing, this dates back to 1969. Conversations around the need for this type of innovation started in 1963, as stated in the article. DARPA, which stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, recruited MIT to be part of a $2 million project to create a way for two people to be working on one computer at the same time. An important term that came up during this time was "virtualization" which changed meaning at technological access to the internet expanded. By 1990, virtualization was used as a way to describe the use of computers, and how that led to the modern cloud computing.

Later, the article goes on to mention how this new form allowed for companies to be more efficient within their virtual storage. It mentions the launching of Amazon Web Services as a pivotal moment in the virtualization of storage, as this company specialized in helping other companies. This part was interesting to me, because my sister worked for Amazon Web Services, and did a lot of the consulting for the sales aspect, so it was nice to see the origin of that type of work. Additionally, that is when Google launched Google Docs along with Google Spreadsheets, which had a similar reaction amongst companies and web services. 

While these developments helped these big tech companies with their storage, the process was highly privatized as they were not able to adapt their cloud to fit the needs of all companies. Arguably the most popular, Apple launched the iCloud storage feature in accordance with their growing profits on phones and other devices. This was unique to apple because it allowed for not just documents to be stored, but larger files like photos, videos, and music, which the public enjoyed because it helped create an online world where people could keep the more personal parts of their lives. 

Now this major development in storage technology had taken over, but with it came many concerns and issues. One was about cybersecurity. With all information, personal photos, documents, etc, being stored in one place, it was easy for online criminals to access and take over this information. In this paper on scrip.org, the dangers to cybersecurity through cloud computing are discussed. One of the main outlined concerned of this is that the adaptation of the cloud allowed for multiple sources of digital "ecosystems" allow for criminals to hack into multiple systems at once, which can be detrimental to companies. Additionally, the virtualization of private information increases risks of breaking confidentiality within workplaces. 

As a possible combat to this, the paper mentions that the growth of the big cloud services has provided easy access to security measures to protect from cyberattacks, that would not be viable within the budgets of smaller companies. Lastly, the paper mentions that because of the way cloud is designed with what they call "security governance frameworks", they often can identify risks and take care of them as they come up, which eliminates a lot of smaller cybersecurity attack attempts. On a smaller scale, many new companies have been able to profit from their services to these big companies like Amazon Web Services, and iCloud. 

Finally, some of my favorite small facts when researching the history of cloud computing, came from a lighthearted article titled 88 Cloud Computing Facts for 2024. Some of the highlights are that the term "cloud computing" was created in 1996, 89% of companies use a hybrid cloud which means that it is both private and public. Additionally, 55% of of the 2022 market shares came from cloud companies and 60% of the world's corporate data is stored in a cloud. After learning about the history, setbacks, developments, and challenges within the creation of the cloud, I have a better idea of how this fits into my life, as it was something I had little to no prior knowledge of. Next time I go to save something to my cloud, I will be aware of where it is going and how it gets there! 

KEY POST #1: Eight Values of Free Expression

 After learning about the emergence of the First Amendment, I can recognize controversy around the implications of this all throughout American history. Additionally, after reading about the eight values of free expression, there are a few that stood out to me as being most relevant today, which innately were the few that I resonated with the most. One thing I considered when reading these was which ones stood out to me as most important, or with the potential to do the most harm.

1) First, when looking at John Milton's Marketplace of Ideas, it is important to note that this is very relevant in modern America. Published in 1644, this pamphlet argued the requirement of of print media to be licensed for publishing. In my opinion, I agree Milton's opinion because the First Amendment allows for anyone to be able to voice their opinion without censorship. Looking at an example of this in recent times,  if someone were to post their opinion on a new bill that Trump was trying to promote, and that comment wasn't able to post because the company required some for of licensing, that would be against Milton's idea. 

2) Alexander Meiklejohn's Free Speech and It's Relation to Self-Government expresses the importance of government candidates being able to use free speech within their campaigns. Within this, Meiklejohn argues that candidates practice transparency and build better rapport with their supporters. A modern example of this is in an article from northjersey.com from September of 2024 outlining a situation that happened on social media during the Covid outbreak. In accordance with the CDC and governmental pressure, many CEO's (the article named Mark Zuckerberg) were pressured to censor the anti-vaccination opinions within their apps because it did not align with policy that was coming directly from the government. This goes against Meiklejohn's idea because in the 2024 election, the candidates should have been allowed to side with however they felt, but were instead pressured to agree with the CDC policy warnings. 

3) This idea overviews Benedict Spinoza's Stable Change argues that allowing for everybody in the United States, including those that feel alienated, to have free speech could help mitigate some of the political and economic tension that arises. While this idea was introduced within the 17th century, in my opinion, it s still highly relevant today. Using social media as a modern example, people are able to connect through shared ideas and opinions, and it is often that sense of community that can foster positive change, versus resulting in hate. Although, it can be argued that while social media can be harmonic, it can also be very polarizing because the lack of in person confrontation can give people more freedom to speak their mind with no remorse. 

4) The idea of individual self-fulfillment as it relates to free speech comes from C. Edwin Baker's Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech, which was a book about his thoughts and opinions regarding the betterment of the country in regard to the First Amendment. He takes a more philosophical approach to this because it is all about how freedom of speech can contribute to human dignity and overall harmony. In this article from Alliance Defending Freedom, there are named artists who have fought for the importance of free speech. This furthers the idea that without the freedom to express oneself, creativity and human dignity cannot thrive. 

5) This theory is my favorite and one that I think is most important out of these eight. Vince Blasi overviews the importance of checking on governmental power in his article Checking Function of the First Amendment. In my opinion, this is arguably the most relevant take on the First Amendment because politics has swelled to become so polarized and filled with false information that it is important for the American people to be able to fact check the sources that they are reading. Additionally, as social media has grown to allow access to constant surveillance of information, it can become difficult to see that the government may be violating the First Amendment behind the scenes. This recent article from CBS news covers a hot topic that was about the Supreme Court's authority to censor social media apps. This is extremely relevant with everything that just happened with the TikTok ban, and furthers the idea of question the governments authority to censor these apps that promote free speech.

6) On a more empathetic note, Lee Bollinger introduces the idea of promoting tolerance through his book, The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech. I enjoy this theory because as an empath myself, I am always willing to look at things from another angle and try to understand opposing prospectives from my own. Through this, Bollinger is advocating for the protection of extremist speech for the betterment of the longterm outcome. Tolerance is relevant especially in government today, as opposing partied become more polarized. 

7) Similar to the previous idea, Jack Balkin promotes the idea of free speech being able to cultivate innovation, as outlined in his Living Originalism. I agree with his idea because I too believe that people thrive more in a place where they feel comfortable having and sharing their opinions, no matter how different they can be from the majority. Sometimes in our modern dynamic within America, this idea can get lost within hate and resentment, so it is important to remind ourselves as communities that we are all valued. 

8) Lastly, Steven Shriffin's Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America connects heavily to the third freedom of expression by Benedict Spinoza. They are both emphasizing the importance of the opinions of those who do not hold as much power in communities. Time magazine wrote an article about the LGBTQ+ movement  and how the proposed "Project 2025" plans would affect the progress made by this community. While this set of policies was deemed untrue, it helped rally this community and give them a voice, which is directly connected to this idea of protecting dissent. 

Blog # 3: Privacy, Online, and Off

After watching all four videos about privacy, there were many points of interest that I wanted to address. One was in the first video, with his visual representations of a "digital footprint". Going through school I was always taught that things that are posted on social media can be accessed by anyone and stay on the internet forever, which introduced me to this idea of a digital "tattoo". I think it is interesting to think of how companies now use this to their advantage, especially when it comes to advertising. However, it poses a question about cybersecurity in regards to technology having this ability to remember everything. In my opinion, it is quite uneasy to think about. 

The second video was a way to think about privacy as it pertains to the government level, versus a personal level like the internet in the first video. I think it is interesting how the purpose of traffic cams is to catch speeding or to be used by police in case of an emergency, but that function is often abused. The other thing that I found intriguing about this video was that there is nothing we as the citizens can do in the moment about the collection of this data, because it is not something that we are able to avoid as we travel. It raises another question, similar to the first video, about ethics within technological privacy. 

The third video covers another part of the government in regards to privacy, with the FBI. The topics covered in this video were something that I had been mildly aware of previously, as oftentimes I was taught to be aware of talking on the phone, especially with someone who I don't normally talk to. What is interesting is when researching this topic online, the official FBI website has a page with a statement regarding this rumor, in which they deny any and all use of wire taps. This video put into perspective for me how easy it is to get access to this information that is seemingly so private to people, and can be as simple as a conversation. 

The last video was a successful gateway into connecting the first three videos together, as it covers something that is very relevant today. Using technology can be a way for people to control whatever they want to, by using the threat of posting it to the public. Starting the conversation around this type of security to a judicial level is important to me, as I believe that this type of misuse of technology is wrong, and unethical. I took this into my own research, looking at the law in my home state, Vermont, and comparing it to the law in North Carolina where I go to school. Overall, watching these videos helped me become more aware about how modern technology can be dangerous, and how I should always be careful about my susceptibility to these types of situations. 

Blog #2: The Supreme Court

    

After watching PART I and PART II of the Supreme Court videos, I have many new insights into one of the most important systems in our country. I find it incredibly intriguing that a document created on the foundations of our country can hold such precedence in our judicial system, and I am glad that we have created a system that upholds those values. I had prior knowledge about the structure of the Supreme Court and the number of justices, as that is something I learned throughout high school. Recently, I have been keeping up with news around controversy within lengths of terms, and I find this debate to be an important one as it relates to the value of experience versus the value of new perspectives. While other positions within the government have term limits, Supreme Court justices can serve for as long as they choose, causing some conversation about the ethics and efficiency of that, given that they are appointed by the president. 

  Given that I am not a person who has studied the judicial system in detail, I learned a lot of new and valuable information. For one, I did not know that the Supreme Court is presented with about 7,000 cases per year, and only take about 100 of them. In hind sight, this makes sense given the importance of the cases that the Supreme Court take to trial. Additionally, I learned a lot about the situation of justices being split within opinion, and how that changes while multiple drafts are created of the official court opinion. I had never looked into how complicated that process is and how much work goes into it. 

 One of my biggest takeaways was that the general public did not always accept the Supreme Court and support it because of how controversial the decisions can be, especially when it came to the abolition of slavery. Thus, John Marshall gained the respect of the general public by reminding everyone of the purpose of the court, to uphold and make decisions based on the Constitution. Similarly to the controversy around Supreme Court justice term limits, I find it notable how our country is constantly changing and adapting to new social, economic, and political circumstances and how in turn our judicial system is adjusting as well, while always staying true to keeping with the Constitution. These videos have allowed for me to reflect on my own role as a contributor to the United States systems, and how I can do my part of staying educated on these issues to ensure that I am holding the judicial system to a high standard. 

Blog #1: Top Five News Sources

As media is evolving to allow a constant flow of information to everyone, it is important to mitigate news sources in order to try and get the most accurate information. I usually will hear about something through word of mouth, and then look into the facts and stories later on by myself. My five top sources of news are as follows. 

1. TikTok

The popular social media app is by far one of the easiest places to get news. With the nature of the app including short, 15-30 second clips, it is easy to outline the big stories. Whether it is a real news channel posting on their own account, or popular creators who "learn the facts for you", I will see the major facts and events of a story on TikTok. That being said, I recognize that information can be spread on the app without being true or accurate, so I will often use a secondary source to fact check anything I come across on TikTok. 

2. Apple News

I frequently use the Apple News App as a secondary source to verify the context of stories that I have seen from somewhere else. With the app on my phone, it will send me a notification when a news story is dropped, making it very easily accessible. The stories are always timely and relevant, and I particularly used the app during election season to get the most accurate updates. Similarly to TikTok, I find myself using this app in accordance with some other news sources, to try and minimize any bias. 

3. Word of Mouth

I am constantly surrounded by different groups of people whether it be my friends, family, members of an organization I am in, or classmates. As media has ramped up in terms of popularity and relevance, I often find that the people around me are constantly talking about some type of news. This is how I will usually first hear about a story, and then later can go to my secondary sources to read more into it. I find that in many of my classes because they are so based in examining the media, I learn stories before I see them on any social media.

4. AP News (Associated Press)

As I learn about reputable news sources and see the impact of "fake news", I try to have at least one news source that is nearly free of bias. During election season, AP News was giving factual updates about election processes and outcomes, without providing and opinion. I found this helpful when I would have conversations with friends or family about the election, because I felt confident that I had the most accurate and up to date information. I mostly use AP News to get the straightforward events of the story, without looking into the social or political commentary on the story. 

5. New York Times 

The New York Times is a news source that I don't check often, but I will use it when I am looking at different angles of a story. I like to see how the information from NYT differs from that of AP or Apple News, so that I can broaden my perspective on the issue and formulate my own opinion. While I recognize that this news source can introduce some bias, I do not rely on it as my only source of stories so that I can make sure I am not introducing bias into my opinions. This has been a news source that I have known the most about, especially when I was younger, so it has always been part of my top five.