Blog #9: EOTO 2: The Smith-Mundt Act

 Introduction:

The Smith-Mundt act, or the U.S. Information and Education Exchange Act of 1948, is a both a historic bill, and a recent bill due to the Smith-Mundt Modernization amendment which was done in 2012, reigniting the spark with controversy.

Overview:

Introduced by Karl E. Mundt, a Republican representative in South Dakota, in 1945, the act aimed to have the State Department regulate the broadcasting of certain programs to foreign audiences outside the United States, and prohibits the broadcasting within the United States. (Smith-Mundt Act) It was signed into law by Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, on January 24, 1948.

Congress stated that for this legislation to be successful, they would need the broadcasts to talk about American life, culture, ideals, and the explanation of motives, while also being truthful to those they broadcast to. Their main goal was to spread Pro-American sentiment to foreign audiences, to try and show the United States in a good and true light, which can be seen as a measure of the foreign policy.

However, this 1948 act was thrust back into the public eye in 2012, when the Obama Administration amended the act, known as the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012. The bill was introduced by the Republican 

representative of Texas, Mac Thornberry, on May 12, 2012, with its intention "to authorize the domestic dissemination of information and material about the United States intended primarily for foreign audiences." (H.R.5736) To put into simple terms, it allows the State Department to regulate broadcasts to the American public. 

This had a major effect on society after its signing in by the 44th president Barack Obama on December 28th 2012, with several news outlets covering the story with several different takes. Some quoted that 

it was overturning of a 64 year ban on the domestic dissemination of propaganda, with BuzzFeed News saying that the bill allowed "U.S. propaganda intended to influence foreign audiences to be used on the domestic population." However, with this news came a stream of false information, with some saying the act was revoked, as shown above. This was not true, as it was a amending, not revoking.

  

Now you may ask the question, is the Smith-Mudnt Act an issue for us today? And that is still up to debate to this day, with each side arguing for and against having great points. One side argues that the bill is an issue, with worries that the government controlled agencies can begin "propagandizing" the American public, and could have the ability to silence unpopular opinions. However, the other side argues that the government controlled media can promote greater government transparency, and could help counter anti-American sentiment. 

I myself am divided on the issue, as I am all for government transparency with its peoples, but I worry for the silencing of opinions, even those that are unpopular. Especially for propaganda, as citizens, the government should not be able to be dictate what its people think. It leads to a very interesting middle ground, where if we have trust in our government, we expect them to to be honest and transparent, but at the same time, they need to trust us, and not infringe upon our rights.

Blog #8: Diffusion of Innovations Theory: Video Games

 Introduction:

When it comes to the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, I believe video games fit perfectly into that curve, and are extremely well represented. This blog will cover this topic, and answer some questions about video games in relation to said theory, in which I will discuss my thoughts.

   

Overview:

First, we must define what the Diffusion of Innovations Theory is, before we start discussing it. The Diffusion Research Institute defines it as the

process in which "a new idea is adopted very slowly during the early stages of its diffusion process. Then, if the innovation is perceived as relatively advantageous by its initial users, its rate of adoption takes off as early adopters share their favorable experience with their peers." The theory is also commonly represented by a bell curve, which is shown above. The innovators slowly start the adaptation, the early adopters create the popularity, the early majority catches on as the popularity reaches its peak, the late majority pick it up, and finally, the laggards adapt.

So how does this apply to video games? Well video games were invented around the 1960's, which has given them the past 60+ years to make it through the diffusion curve, which it has done well. The innovators of video games, which can be seen through the games "Tennis for Two" and "Spacewar!", and companies like Atari, were responsible for lifting up and pushing the industry towards the early adopters, by building up on the ideas.

The commercial success of the early video game innovations helped spread the new technology to both adults and children alike. Early adopters came in the 70's and resurged in the 90's after the video game crash, where Nintendo came in to save the videogame industry, and thus lifted it into the early majority.

I believe we are now in the late majority phase, as people are beginning to mistrust triple A game development companies due to a few years of disappointing releases, upsetting business practices, and major scandals. However, we may see a rise in Indie developers, which may keep us in this age of late majority.

Finally, the laggards are those who either distrust the entire video game industry, those who never got in to the business, such as people who are of older age, those who prefer more outdoor activities, and those who cant access the technology due to other restrains.

Blog #7: an Overview of Anti-War News Sites

 Introduction:

For this blog post, I took a look at two prominent news sources that have a large focus on antiwar voices, overviewed each one, and answered a few questions on them. 

The two sources I will be looking at are Antiwar.com, which solely focuses on posting stories on events going on in wars all over the world, and The American Conservative, a more general news source, but when covering war topics, veers towards an antiwar statement.

Antiwar.com:

In 1995, Antiwar.com was created as the United States began their intervention in the Bosnian civil war, as a place to bring together antiwar voices and document the current events within the said civil war. From there, they took off, currently reporting on the events in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia, and the United States and Yemen. 

While I found their website user interface to be a bit archaic, the amount of coverage they provide is impressive, and shows their dedication to the cause. I also appreciated their lack of a filter, as each voice feels as if it they are independent, and not driven by a bias or political party.

The American Conservative:

In 2002, three men came together to form The American Conservative to, "reignite the conversation that conservative ought to have engaged in since the end of the Cold War, but didn't." (TAC About Us Page) It was formed due to the founders believe that the United States wasn't conserving anything, and were upset at foreign policy, such as the war in Iraq.

They cover a wider variety of topics than Antiwar.com, like the state of the union, current events such as the tariff conflict, and foreign news, but still push for antiwar efforts all the same. 

In contrast to Antiwar.com, their user interface is much more friendly, but they are on level with the amount of information they cover. I did

Political Cartoon at the Bottom of
the TAC Menu Page

enjoy this little political cartoon they display at the bottom of their website, showing their proudness in their status as an alternative media. However, I would argue their coverage still leans to the right side of the political spectrum, due to the proudness of the right in their conservative views. They also value "mans taste for the familiar, for family, for faith in God." (TAC About

Us Page) As a more left leaning person politically, this pushed me away from The American Conservative, but I did find myself agreeing with some of their takes.

Overview:

When it comes to the question of why we never seem to see these antiwar voices in mainstream news, I believe its due to the need to stay funded and popular to most viewers, which alternative media can do more independently than sponsored media's. Antiwar voices are also bad for business unfortunately, as many profit off of the spoils of war, which also pushes them further out of the spotlight. I myself have found out that not only these websites, but the widening of my news sources has contributed to my own antiwar voice.

As an aside, I have always enjoyed the "Ashes of the Wake" album by the heavy metal band Lamb of God, which has some songs that cover the exact topic of antiwar, specifically the Iraq war that was going on as the time of release. It shows that there are many ways people can use their voice to speak out against wars that are going on, which is a powerful tool we should all remember.

 

Blog #6: What I Learned About During EOTO Presentation

 Introduction:

During the EOTO Presentations, I learned a lot of facts about several different presentations! I was surprised at the large amount of information that people dug up about their communication topics, and thoroughly enjoyed learning about each and every one.

Through these presentations, I learned about facts on a wide variety of subjects, such as the film industry, social media, the postal service, the telephones, Bluetooth, and email!

What I Learned:

The first thing I was interested in finding out was that the first film ever created was only two seconds long. I don't know why I never considered this, but I always imagined it was a little bit longer, or something more substantial then just two people walking. But if you take that piece of information into context, it is still very impressive.

Next, I heard about carrier pigeons, and their use in wartime. The most surprising thing I learned about them, was that they are still used today, and criminals will try to smuggle drugs using them.

I also learned a lot about the current social medias and their past, like how Facebook was originally called "The Facebook", Instagram was called "Burbn" after the creators love for bourbon, and Snapchat was known as "Picaboo" which explains their mascot being a ghost! The most surprising thing I learned during that presentation, was that YouTube used to be a dating site, which completely caught me off guard.

Some more one off things I learned during some presentations was that Benjamin Franklin was the first appointed Postmaster, the term DJ stands for disc jockey, the first spoken words on a telephone was Alexander Graham Bell asking for his assistant, saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you", and the funniest one I heard, that the first spam email was sent in 1978!

Finally, I found out about the history of Bluetooth, and its different configurations. Bluetooth, is actually named after King Harald Gormsson, who was given the nickname "Bluetooth" do to his dead tooth that was blue in color. Following this, I learned there are two types of Bluetooth, Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy.

Conclusion:

Overall, I learned lots of interesting factoids about all the communication types, and I am very excited to add them in to my "fun fact" knowledgebase! I can not wait to do another one of these, and I'm excited about all of the facts I may learn next.

Blog #5: Privacy, Online and Off.

Introduction:

This blog post is a reflection on these six Ted Talks by Juan Enriquez, Catherine Crump, Christopher Soghoian, Darieth Chisolm, Andy Yen, and Finn Lutzow-Holm Myrstad.

These TedTalks covered a wide variety of subjects that all fall under one umbrella, and that umbrella is privacy. However, they mainly cover online privacy, which is a very prevalent issue in todays society.

    To give some background on myself, I am a very "tech savvy" person as most people would say, as a computer science and game design major. I love the internet, and think it is one of the greatest advancements that humanity has ever achieved, and my life would've been completely different without it. However, I understand the risks that come with it, and that every technological advancement has a downside.

While I don't use common social media, I am very active on Discord and YouTube, and I livestream to people on Twitch, so I have a very distinct online footprint. This makes the issue prevalent to me, but I always had an opinion of indifference, until I watched these videos.

How My Opinion Changed:

My initial stance on the issue of online privacy was very loose, as I knew from the second I was born, there would be records of me, and I had no problem with that. To me, I am a law abiding citizen, and I am guilty of no crimes, so why should I care about the government watching me or using my information?

But after watching these videos, I learned about how malicious users can get in to these services that the government uses, like telephone lines as Christopher Soghoian said. This is a troubling issue, as these services that are meant to be used for good, to catch criminals and people with bad intent, are being misused against innocent people. 

I also believe there should be more policies against revenge porn after listening to Darieth Chisolm's story and what she went through. These great inventions become weapons in peoples hands, yet there is light punishments for their actions, and the damage remains. 

Conclusion:

    After going over several TedTalks about online privacy, they have changed my outlook on online privacy and the applications and information I share online, due to the chance that bad actors can take this information and use it against me.

Blog #4: EOTO Project 1: Video Games as a Communication Device

 Introduction:

    Before I begin discussing video games, I always like to give a definition of it because my old high school teacher, Dr. Nelson, would always say, "There's no point in making a point, if you don't define your terms. Otherwise nobody knows what you are talking about."

    The definition of a video game is hard to pinpoint, as throughout the years the term has changed as technology has changed with it. Early on in its creation, the term was more based on the technology around it, with its only requirement being transmitting a video signal to a display But today, its more of a conceptual term, with a large umbrella of coverage, with the Merriam Webster Dictionary defining it as "an electronic game in which players control images on a video screen."

    Who knows! Maybe one day this definition will change in the future!

Early Video Games: 

    When it comes to the first video games, there are lots of arguments and debates on which ones game first. In my opinion, the first video game was "Tennis For Two" created in 1958 in the Brookhaven National Library. This game was played on an oscilloscope, a device which is

normally used to "display and analyze the waveform of electronic signals" (TechTarget). Invented by William Higginbotham and Robert Dvorak, the game was a simple recreation of the real life game tennis, where two players hit a ball back and forth using rotary controllers. 

    Many ask why they created this video game, and there are plenty of reasons! Their goal was not only to create a form of entertainment, but to push the limits of the technology they had, as these video games required the use of all of the computers components. But the main driving factor was to impress investors, to get them to buy the equipment, after they have seen the capabilities of it.

    Another example of the first video games was the first widespread installment of a video game, Spacewar! on the PDP-1. Created at MIT by

Steve Russel in 1962, the game revolved around two spaceships fighting each other in space, with gravity taking effect as you flew near different stars. 

    The importance of Spacewar! comes from its widespread nature, as students began taking copies of the game to other universities to play on their PDP-1, and so it spread around. I would have loved to try and play this game on its original hardware, as online emulations just don't match up.

How did they change the world?:

    Video games were created so that anybody could play and enjoy, and have fun. But in junction with this, they also have changed the world, especially when they follow the perfect game formula. This formula, is "Easy to play, difficult to master," which was said by the founder of one of the greatest video game companies, Atari, Nolan Bushnell.

        So you may ask, well how did that change the world? Well, it drove technology advancements in computing to try and create better and more immersive experiences!

    Like Xbox and PlayStation competing to have a better performing console to display better looking games, it created competition and a reason to improve.

    

    Video games also influenced and created a whole culture around it, with communities forming around different games, genres, and even specific equipment like virtual reality!

   

    Businesses like video game design, publishing, and Esports popped up, with their profits being well above most expectations, and most importantly, it became a new for of communication to convey stories and narratives throughout the games themselves.

Conclusion:

    Video games have come a long way since their early beginnings with Tennis for Two and Spacewar!—evolving from simple oscilloscope displays to immersive, narrative-driven experiences that captivate millions. 

    What started as a technological experiment to showcase computing power has grown into a global phenomenon, shaping culture, driving innovation, and even redefining entertainment. The competitive nature of gaming has pushed hardware advancements, while the communities built around games have fostered new forms of social interaction and storytelling.

    Video games have always been a prevalent force in my life, as I can not remember a time where I haven't been playing one. So prevalent, that I've dedicated one half of my education towards it, and I hope it will become my future as I chase game design as a job. Video games are an incredible communication technology, and I can not wait to see how video games evolve next!