War in the News

 War, when properly managed, is undeniably good for the leaders of this country. They use it to get cheaper materials, to make money, and to push their own agendas. Since war is so profitable, American leaders have no interest in stopping the perpetual war machine of America.

While constitutionally politicians are not allowed to silence the press, mainstream media has been proven to be in the pockets of Washington D.C. I've already discussed the profitability of war, so it isn't hard to see why politicians have no interest in American citizens hearing anti-war reporting. 

For example, the United States government has consistently expressed ongoing support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian war. The Biden administration has provided over 75 billion dollars in financial and logistical aid to Ukraine. The majority of American taxpayers have supported these financial aids, but how do you think popular opinion would sway if the following article was more reported upon?

US Officials See Ukraine as an Active and Bountiful Military Research Opportunity

Since the dawn of anti-war protesting, protesters have been silenced by the government. War is how nations progress, and governmental bodies don't want citizens to stand in the way. In American history, I believe the strongest outcry against war was during Vietnam. American citizens were outraged at the Vietnam War and demanded our men return home. Thousands of people showed up in DC to protest, and over time it worked. Of course, large-scale activism like this rarely exists today, with everyone instead opting to sign an online petition or buy a bumper sticker. I believe a huge reason Americans don't oppose American wars to a greater extent is the effort it takes to protest. Additionally, I don't think the American people are informed about the ongoing wars that America is in. In several cases, I have met people who believe the United States isn't at war at all, and that just goes to show how well the government and major news outlets are doing to hide the truth of American war and violence.

Carrier Pigeons

Never have I considered Carrier Pigeons to be a form of technology but after Ms. Nguyen's presentation on the subject I have reconsidered my position. Carrier pigeons are just as much a communicative technology as radio or the telegram.

Ancient Pigeons

I found it particularly interesting to hear about the carrier pigeon in antiquity. Ancient Egypt has a rich history, but also one where I, as a historian, had never heard of the presence of the pigeon. That being said, I have learned that the pigeon was likely the first ever animal to be domesticated, so it isn't unreasonable to assume that ancient man would have been utilizing them since the dawn of civilization. Additionally, there have been ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that depict swarms of pigeons in the sky, all but confirming their presence in the ancient civilization.

Police Pigeons

I also found it fascinating to learn about the decline of pigeons being used in police forces around the world. Pigeons used to be used by police forces to communicate with one another prior to the development of communicative technologies like the radio, telegram, and telephone. Currently, India's police force is the only remaining police force that uses carrier pigeons in preparations for disasters where communicative infrastructure collapses. Additionally, if somewhat unrelated, in my research I found an amusing article about a suspected Chinese spy pigeon being detained by Indian police for several months, presumably for questioning, that I highly recommend everyone read.

Prison Pigeons

One subject that I had some prior knowledge of was prison pigeons. Pigeons are being used to smuggle all sorts of contraband into prisons for prisoners. They are typically used to deliver to higher-profile prisoners, giving sim cards, phones, and chargers to prisoners. In recent history, pigeons have more often been replaced by drones, just as they have been replaced in most contexts that were discussed in the presentation. Most recently, pigeons have been caught delivering illegal narcotics into prisons. I would also be remiss to fail to mention that, instead of the classic package tied to the pigeon's leg, prison pigeons are sometimes equipped with small and personally made backpacks, leading to an amusing image of cartel arts and crafts sessions

Virtual Reality

History

The timeline of virtual reality has an intertwining development of VR for education and VR for entertainment. Most people who engage with virtual reality engage with the entertainment side of it,  but the educational side of VR has evolved right alongside that of the entertainment. The education side of VR is continuously saving lives through teaching in a safe and humanless context.

Entertainment

The roots of modern virtual reality can be seen as far back as the 1830s with stereoscopic photos and viewers. Virtual reality was much, much later developed into Morton Heilig's Sensorama in 1962. The Sensorama was, for all intents for all intents and purposes, a virtual reality arcade cabinet used for the viewing of movies using all of your senses. In the early 90s, video games took a keen interest in VR. Companies like Sony and Nintendo attempted to get a foothold into the technology, but it wasn't until the 2010s that the technology and the games industry had advanced far enough to make a consistently successful industry in VR hardware and software for the uses of entertainment.

Education

In 1929, the first practical application for VR was created in the form of the first flight simulator used to train pilots. Virtual reality was further changed in 1968 with the development of the first head-mounted VR display and further still in 1979 with the first standalone VR headset that could be removed from a lab setting. Today, education VR has developed far past that of VR made for the average consumer.  

Impact

Virtual reality received huge loops in technological advancements as a result of the technology being used as training. The technology got its original boom in the field of training technology, beginning with flight trainers and getting developed further in the military and especially in the field of healthcare to train surgeons on complex procedures. 

A large portion of the field today is dedicated to entertainment, specifically video games. This has pros and cons. A pro is simply that it is fun for the consumer. The development of new video games relating to VR as well as hardware to complement these games has led to an extremely enjoyable new medium for those who are involved in it. A con to this is the lack of further development unless stimulated by financial promise. This means development of hardware is slow for the consumer as the VR entertainment market has a high financial entrance barrier.

Unfortunately, virtual reality's previously mentioned financial barrier of entry has led to a lack of expansion in the industry. Those looking into VR have to buy a headset, and a powerful computer (if they wish to play more graphically intensive games), and must have room set aside to play VR. Additionally, modern VR faces a similar problem as older VR did, namely motion sickness. The feeling of virtual moving while standing still is simply too much for a lot of people to handle, meaning the already small market of people able to afford and wanting to engage with VR has been shortened even further.