The First Television

Television, invented in 1884, was initially seen as a novelty and only around 50 people had one. However, it has since become one of the most innovative forms of entertainment, with viewers' viewing habits changing significantly since the 1940s and 1950s. TV technology has progressively improved over the years, with color TV debuting in the 1960s, cable in the 1970s, VCRs in the 1980s, and high-definition in the late 1990s. In the twenty-first century, viewers are watching programs on tablets, computers, and cell phones as they are on televisions. Electronic television, designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, was first successfully demonstrated in San Francisco on September 7, 1927. Electronic television uses electronic signals to produce images on a video screen, making it possible to watch shots from the moon or satellite photos. TV has plenty of positive and negative effects. Television offers cultural experiences that broaden viewers' perspectives and increase tolerance for different lifestyles. Shows like "National Geographic," "House Hunters International," and "The Amazing Race" focus on life in unfamiliar parts of the world, while shows like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and "House Hunters" highlight foods, housing trends, and customs in different regions. Despite criticism of isolating people, television can also bring them together, as seen in Super Bowl parties and events like March Madness. Fans gather to compare brackets, view college basketball games, and discuss results. Some TV shows also invite viewers to share their opinions through calls or comments. Screen time has been linked to various health issues, including obesity, heart health, diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Sedentary activities like video games and TV can increase the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Electronic devices can interfere with the brain's sleep cycle, preventing good sleep. To sleep soundly, keep screens out of the bedroom and avoid them for at least an hour before bed. Poor posture can lead to chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain. Take breaks from sitting, walk, stand, or stretch, and ensure your chair provides adequate back support. Keep the device at eye level and keep the device at eye level. High screen time can negatively affect mental and emotional wellbeing, with experts suggesting a connection between higher screen time and depression, increased suicidal behaviors, and lower emotion reading abilities.

https://valleywisehealth.org/blog/negative-effect-of-screen-time-adults-children/

https://classroom.synonym.com/what-is-the-positive-impact-of-television-12086505.html 

Sophia Ortiz's Presentation

Cassette Tapes

Let's rewind about 21,940 days or about 60 years. Its the early 1960s and up until then, the most widespread way of listening to music was through vinyl, a very anti-on-the-go way of listening to music. That was the case until November of 1964 (in America) when a revolutionary piece of technology was released, the cassette tape. The solution to the issue of listening to music on the go as it allowed for a very easy and convenient method of taking your favorite jams with you.

This revolutionary device wasn't invented in America, nor was it first available there either. Before the release in America the cassette tape was invented two years prior in Belgium by the Phillips company, more specifically by a man named Lou Ottens and his team at the company. A year afterwards (August 30th, 1963) was the Philips company released this invention over in Europe to the Berlin Radio Show and then after that in November the next year it finally came to America. 

Why was the cassette tape a revolutionary device? Its because it not only gave people a more mobile way of listening to music, as it was about the size of a of cigarettes, but it also allowed for people to record audio tracks of themselves which revolutionized the album market when pre-recorded music cassettes started to be commercially available. Cassette tapes were coated with magnetic particles that were mixed with a binder and transformed onto wide rolls of  plastic film. The coating was dried and smoother which allowed for sound to be recorded and erased. They had a maximum playtime of 45 minutes per side with two reversable sides that could be erased and rerecorded over. Cassette tape technology, with its three key features, influenced culture, the features allowed young lovers to exchange mixtapes of songs, enabled musicians to record themselves without a record label, and enabled bootlegging, the recording of live concerts for the underground music market. Cassette tapes were so popular that audio cassette players became a standard dashboard features in cars in the 1970s and remained that way for the next 40 years as in 2010 was when the final car to have cassette player as a part of the dashboard was made, it was a Lexus. 

While the cassette tape was invented in 1962 and allowed for music and audio to be more portable with a smaller format, it wasn't until 1966 that the very first cassette player was made. The Norelco Carry-Corder 150 was made by the Philips company and then 13 years later the first Sony Walkman was released to the world. The Walkman was considered the first portable cassette tape player and it only furthered the popularity of cassette tapes. Eventually cassette tapes did die out because of their shortcomings. It could wear out, melt in hot weather and get mangled. 

I personally find cassette tapes to be really interesting, especially when taking a look through my future scope. While I can't go back in time to experience what it was like in the moment, I can take the past to me by purchasing cassette tapes and audio players to see how they work with my own eyes and use them as people would've back then. While I only own one cassette tape, "Trench" album released in 2018 by Twenty-One Pilots, I do borrow some from my relatives who own them and play them on my Sony Walkman. I don't know what version I own but watching the cassette player work and play the tape is always interesting to me, seeing how it works and listening to the audio that comes out.

Reflecting Upon the Supreme Court

Going into the article about the Supreme Court I have very little knowledge of them other than that they are the highest federal court in this country. The Supreme Court was established in 1789 by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. It’s made up of six justices meant to serve until they died or retired. Their first assembly was postponed by a day, so they first met on February 2nd, 1790, but had no cases within its first term. The six justices handed out their first decision over a year later on August 3rd, 1791, just a day after they heard both arguments for the case West v. Barnes. All of this was new information for myself, and it’s amazing to look back and see how far the system goes. The part where for the first term of the Supreme Court it didn’t have any cases I found amusing in that they designed this system to deal with matters, but there wasn’t anything to deal with. It also was the most surprising information from the article in my opinion. Through the entire article the most important information about the Supreme Court was the power they have. The Supreme Court has the power to, if necessary, check the actions of the other two branches of government, the executive branch and the legislative branch. They have the ultimate jurisdiction over every law in the United States. 

The overview posted on History.com by the History channel was very informative, and you can find the link to the exact article, here: https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/supreme-court-facts

Favorite Sources for My News

 I don’t usually go out of my way for news about anything I’m interested in, but there are several places that I do get some of my information from, in no particular order: