Kimberlee Summerville

  Since we learned about the World Wars in our middle school history classes, we’ve all been aware of propaganda and how our government strategically used it to alter our perceptions of what was really happening out in the world. The presentation was given on propaganda, however, made me see it in a new light. The presentation made it clear that propaganda is not a thing of the past, it is still strategically utilized today. As we look back at early examples of propaganda, it's easy to see in hindsight how conniving they were. Propaganda is misleading or biased information used to promote a particular political cause. The most obvious example of this, and one that comes to my mind any time I hear the term propaganda, is the well-known Uncle Sam “I want you…” poster, urging young men to join the armed forces. This was at a time where Americans often didn’t grasp the depth of the horrors of war. This made it possible, and actually easy, to mislead young men into thinking that joinin...

The advanced creation and utilization of artificial intelligence   today is a mesmerizing, yet startling advancement in technology. In some ways, the evolution of this technology into something we’ve only ever imagined, something we'd expect to see only in movies and on TV, is extremely impressive and enthralling. In The Age of AI showed us uses of technology that we have never seen before. Some of these uses seem like they could vastly improve our life, like having the ability to obtain a loan in just eight seconds, or foregoing interpersonal interaction for things like ordering food or other goods. The technology also allows for the automation of certain tasks that could take jobs away from humans. Some see this as a disadvantage, however, I think that this is a great feature of this technology. Even though there may be fewer jobs, the jobs being eliminated are jobs that are a waste of people's time and rarely add actual value to their life other than a paycheck. I think the...

The very first glimpse of the technology that made television possible was an exclusive opportunity reserved for the privileged few. The idea was around for a while before it was willed into solid reality, and there isn't one person credited for its creation. To name a few, Philo Farnsworth, John Logie Baird, Charles Francis Jenkins, and Kenjiro Takayanagi were the pioneers of the technology. When first released , television sets ranged from $200-$600, with the higher end of that being equivalent to about half of the average annual salary at the time. The high price made it exclusively available to upper-class citizens, making them the early adopters of the technology. After the end of World War I, television became much more popular .  People weren't facing the threat of war and such bad economic hardships, and television had already evolved since its initial debut. The combination of these factors made television more accessible to middle-class Americans. They make up the e...

  It’s astonishing to think about how little privacy we actually have here in the United States. We think of the US as being the land of the free, but finding out the truth about our lack of privacy may make you think differently. The TED talks truly expose the degree to which our privacy is completely invaded by the government. From collecting data on where we go based on our license plates to having the ability to wiretap our personal phone calls, these issues are very concerning. There are many companies out there that we don’t even know about, that are collecting data on us daily. Almost every move we make can be monitored and watched. License plate scanning, facial recognition, and cellphone tower location technology make it possible for someone to know where we are at all times. We are never truly alone. These issues affect us all. I have several social media accounts, which means I have “electronic tattoos”. It's likely that my face is in some database somewhere, so at any ...

Under the law, the act of whistleblowing   is defined as “disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety”. Whistleblowers must often conjure up a lot of courage in order to be willing to make such reports, especially because they are reporting on people or institutions in power. On the positive side, when whistleblowers are listened to and taken seriously, their courage can have a positive impact, in that they make sure wrongdoers are not rewarded or benefitting from their corruption. In addition, they may also receive financial rewards for their reports. On the other hand, it doesn't always work out in their favor. Allegations may not always hold up, sometimes the whistleblower doesn't have access to enough information or doesn't have the same knowledge as some others. Also, th...

  The history of photography was of particular interest to me, especially because of the research I did on the history of television. Obviously, photography was instrumental in the creation of film and television. Photography was first used in the early 1800s. Kodak sold the very first commercial camera in 1888. This was a monumental event because it made it possible for people like you and me to capture everyday moments that previously could not be relieved in such a real way. Before this time, cameras and photography were exclusively available to the rich and powerful. The first commercial camera had only a single lens and a nonadjustable focus. With this camera, customers would take pictures and send the camera back to the factory to have the photos developed, much like disposable cameras today. At this time, most photographs taken were staged portraits. When World War II started, that changed. War had an impact on photography, and photography had an impact on the war. As I sta...