Jacob Smith

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Reviewers of both AAA and indie PC games, focusing on fair and honest criticism | [email protected]

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Articles

OPINION: “Vote Harder” isn’t enough - we’re losing power because we aren’t using it

1 week ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Every election season, we hear the same tired mantra: “Vote like your rights depend on it.” Eligible voters show up, cast our ballots and cross our fingers while we watch the counts being announced. However, when the results disappoint — or nothing seems to shift — we’re left gobsmacked. Democracy isn’t broken because people aren’t voting hard enough. It’s faltering because voting is being treated as the only thing that matters.
OPINION: The grind never stops, but we definitely should

2 weeks ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Modern-day “hustle culture” has convinced us all that we don’t just work to live anymore — we live to work. We live in a society where it is collectively believed, and wrongfully so, that rest is for the weak and that stopping, even for a moment, means failure. Productivity has evolved from what it once was; it has gone from a goal to an expectation and a measure of our worth as human beings. But if the grind never stops, what happens when we do?
OPINION: ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a mirror of modern medicine’s blind spot

1 month ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published in 1892 and is a chilling short story that explores the mental deterioration of a woman who was subjected to the “rest cure.” The story became a foundational text in feminist literature, highlighting how patriarchal medical practices ignored women’s voices and autonomy within the medical field.
OPINION: Recognizing Black English as a dialect - not a deficit - in academic settings

1 month ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Imagine being told the way you speak — the language you use within your household, family or culture — is “wrong.” For many Black Americans, this hypothetical situation is a daily reality that plagues classrooms and workplaces. Rather than dismissing the mannerisms of Black English, what if we embraced it, recognizing it as what it is — a legitimate dialect deserving the same respect as any other dialect within educational and professional realms?
OPINION: North Carolina teens are being set up for failure in sex ed

2 months ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Remember that one scene from Mean Girls where the gym teacher says, “Don’t have sex, ‘cause you will get pregnant and die”? That’s not too far from what some students hear in school. The scene is humorous because of its absurdity — but what’s not funny is that for many students in the U.S., their actual sex education isn’t much better.
OPINION: ‘Originalism’ is a political stain on the tapestry of the Law

2 months ago | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

The Law — the concept of the law itself rather than the actual codified law in the American system — exists similarly to a finely woven tapestry, in which the story of a nation’s values, struggles and triumphs are detailed. As society progresses, the tapestry evolves; thread by thread, a story begins to unfold that can be read by future generations.
OPINION: ‘Christian hospitality’ shouldn’t stop at the church door

Jan 23, 2025 | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

In many rural churches, the warmth of the gospel’s message runs cold when it is met with the unfamiliar. This tribalistic mindset directly contradicts the core teachings of Christianity and alienates those seeking the love and acceptance promised by the faith. A key component of Christian thought is the concept of hospitality, which is often referred to in both the Old and New Testaments as a virtue that is both commanded and commended by God.
OPINION: Why your New Year’s resolutions aren’t sticking

Jan 14, 2025 | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Picture this, and it shouldn’t be too hard. After the countdown, the clock strikes midnight — it’s 2025. New year, new you, right? You may have goals that you want to achieve in the coming year — whether they be fitness-related, lifestyle-related, forming new habits in your personal life or updating any other aspect of your life that isn’t to your liking. As that clock strikes midnight, you resolve to do whatever it is that you think will improve your quality of life during and after 2025.
OPINION: A guide to Thanksgiving dinner table talk

Nov 19, 2024 | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Editor’s Note: This is a work of satire. It should not be taken seriously or applied literally. As we ring in the end of the first semester, we can almost hear the sleigh bells ringing. It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year. We just have to make it through Thanksgiving first. One of the hallmarks of this night of forced gratitude is family dinner — a feast where the turkey isn’t the only thing getting burned and the potatoes are almost as lumpy as your third cousin twice removed’s politics.
SATIRE: A guide to Thanksgiving dinner table talk

Nov 18, 2024 | technicianonline.com | Jacob Smith

Editor’s Note: This is a work of satire. It should not be taken seriously or applied literally. As we ring in the end of the first semester, we can almost hear the sleigh bells ringing. It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year. We just have to make it through Thanksgiving first. One of the hallmarks of this night of forced gratitude is family dinner — a feast where the turkey isn’t the only thing getting burned and the potatoes are almost as lumpy as your third cousin twice removed’s politics.