Blog Post week 6

History of the DVD

The DVD is a media format which we should all be familiar with. Before the era of streaming, DVD was how we watched movies and consumed digital media. DVD was originally an abbreviation for digital video disc, but the "video" in the title was later swapped with "versatile," making it digital versatile disc.

"The DVD is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed in 1995 and released in late 1996" - The Brittanica. The digital versatile disc can store any kind of digital data, and is widely used for software and other computer files such as video programs. Formation of the DVD was backed by two large media brands, both Sony and Philips.

How it works: digitized data that has been encoded onto the disc is read by a laser. The laser traces in a spiral track from the center ring to the outer edge of the disc. The data is stored in tiny pits upon the disc, which the laser reads over.

The DVD was revolutionary during its time due to the smaller spacing of pits on the disc. This smaller spacing allowed for more data to be stored within the disc. DVD's have the capability of storing more than TEN TIMES the data than that of a CD.

The digital versatile disc paved the way for what came next: the HD DVD. The HD DVD employed a laser emitting light which fell upon the blue-violet end of the spectrum. This color laser caused a shorter wavelength of light to be emitted, allowing even smaller pits to be on a disc. The even smaller pits meant that more data to be stored on the disc.

Eventually, DVD and HD DVD were ushered out by the current means of consuming media: digital download and online streaming. While DVD is now a window into the past, it was an important invention for its time and changed the way an era watched movies and consumed media at home and work.

https://www.britannica.com/technology/DVD
https://didyouknow.org/dvdhistory/
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/dvd.htm

Week 5 Blogpost

Suppression of Anti-War Shouts

For millennials and people of Gen-Z, news on wars in the Middle East is just a thing that comes across our screens now and then. Wars in the Middle East has been something that Gen Z & Millennial Americans have lived with our entire lives. It seems that Americans never bat an eye over foreign affairs and many Americans are ignorant about what is going on outside our borders. The question is, are Americans so self indulged that they could care less about foreign wars and involvement, or does our government censor us from the Anti-War shouts?

Mainstream news organizations such as CNN and The New York Times never seem to update the American people on these foreign affairs. Major news headlines about war involvement only seem to stay on air for small minutes and then are never brought up again. 

War news from the Middle East that actually does reach major news websites seems to only show the American government in a positive light. News networks never degrade or talk negatively about the U.S. government in the same manner which anti-war websites do. 

Headlines like "Donald Trump's real North Korea Mistake" or "Conveying the Chaos and Absurdity of the Iraq War" make are posted on the front page of anti-war.com. Headlines that talk about the government with negative words like "absurdity" will never be seen on popular websites.

Websites like anti-war.com or The American Conservative do not have the same popularity levels as larger news sites. This calls for suspicion that the U.S. Government censors the news that the American public receives. 

Common Americans are unaware that the websites mentioned previously even exist. Americans have to seek this information, rather than have it fed to them like other news subjects. 

Does it seem that the American government censors opinions that oppose theirs? Or are Americans too busy to seek the less exciting news? That opinion is up to you.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120310070846/http://www.journalism.org/about_talk_show_index/methodology; https://www.antiwar.com/; https://www.theamericanconservative.com/; https://www.cnn.com/; https://www.nytimes.com/

Blog Post: Week 4

The Unanticipated Uses of the 14th Amendment

On July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment was added to The Constitution of the United States. This Amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, and citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 

In simpler terms, This amendment was added to the Constitution to give any person born in America the legal right to live, work, vote, and pay taxes, particularly African Americans and former slaves. Sadly, you could currently say that this amendment has slid into a chance for businesses or corporate entities to protect themselves.

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. was a court case from California that made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. This particular case was crucial in establishing corporate personhood. This let companies, businesses and corporations argue that their rights are protected under the 14th amendment. The decision from this case set a precedent in which corporations could argue certain protections under the 14th amendment using the argument of "corporate personhood."

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, was originally intended to give citizenship and protect newly freed slaves in America. While it accomplished this goal, the 14th Amendment has also been used by corporations to protect themselves. This is done by using the 1886 case which set a precedent of "corporate personhood."

Blog Post: Week 3

The Workings of the U.S. Supreme Court and its Power

The U.S. Supreme court is the highest level of court in the United States. It is comprised of nine judges who debate, argue and formulate opinions on large matters which our country struggles to answer for its self. The work of these nine judges consists of reviewing cases, debating them, then reaching a consensus on these cases which have come to them through lower local, state and regional courts. These judges look at the given case and interpret whether the prior decisions in the lower cases are constitutional or not. This decision comes by the hefty task of interpreting the nation's 229 year old constitution.

The select group of individuals who make up the Supreme Court are elected into position by current and former presidents. After being selected, these judges or "justices" hold this position for life. Once a justices' time serving has come to an end, a new justice is appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. 

The Supreme Court embodies the Judicial branch of our government. The judicial branch works along side the executive branch and legislative branch to make up the government of the United States. The Supreme Court plays a great role in the checks and balances of our government. The power of judicial review allows the supreme court justices to decide whether actions done by congress and the president are unconstitutional. This power is derived from the notorious Marbury v. Madison case in which John Marshall deemed an act of congress unconstitutional. This decision made by Marshall in 1801 proved the importance of The Supreme Court and changed the workings of our government for the better.

Sources:

- https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/about.aspx

- https://informationstation.org/video/what-is-the-supreme-court/?utm_source=google%20grants&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAiA-P7xBRAvEiwAow-VaZmRx4QYR1ogRdOTmQXQx6XJhFcJqiCzdE9TEQeu9JLwpli9axZv-xoCGDUQAvD_BwE

- https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-judicial-branch/