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SOS: The lost Decade

Instructions- Bryan Alexander – The Visible College: Four futures for Higher Education – Choose one of Alexander’s four views of higher education in 2022 (this part of begins at the 37th minute of the talk) and imagine how your life will be in such a society. Since you will most likely be finished with university by then, I’d like you to talk about imagined personal and professional life. You will have to build from Alexander’s model how society as a whole might be under the particular future scenario you choose.

Process: I chose the The Lost Decade portion of Alexander’s presentation because, it was something that I feel is all to familiar for me. The way I grew up in the United States during the 90’s was not that far off from what was said about his senario for 2022. The public school system was terrible, crime was high, people didnt have real career choices and there was basically no where to go. My only option for higher education was joining the military and that was before the post 9/11 G.I Bill was installed for military vets. I consider myself very lucky that even though I grew up on the wrong side of town my Parents were always around and taking care of me the best that they could. I am here in Tokyo now and it still amazes me… To think that some people hate it here just mind boggles me because live a day where I am from and you will call Tokyo a paradise.

The year is 2022, I have returned to the USA after graduating from TUJ in 2013. At first finding a job wasnt that hard because of my Military backround and education. However, as the years continued on having the military backround and degree wasnt enough to stand out because everyone had the same qualities. Jobs have become so competative and scarce that I have become self-employed, I own a land scaping business. I am forced to rent out a cheap trailer and can barely buy the mulch I need to do my job. My wife has left me and has custody of my three beautiful children whom I adore. I have taken other measures to earn money and started drug dealing in my trailer park. Cops never go there because its so dangerous. I now go by the alias of O’G and I pretty much run the trailer park. The rival trailer park is trying to take over so me and the boys are constantly in shoot outs.

One day on April 19th, 2022 I wake up from a car alarm going off from down the way where the entrance to the trailer park is. I grab my 20-gauge(slug shot) and peek through the curtain of my trailer park home. There are four men dressed in all black, and they look as if they are going to force-enter into a home and rob it. So I rush outside and start shooting. Three of the men flee, but I managed to shoot one of them. He is wearing a ski-mask and his blood is everywhere. I lift his mask and to my suprise it is a teenage boy. He is coughing up blood and I dial 911. I get an answering machine that tells me “I’m sorry, due to cutbacks on local funding this number is no longer available in your area, please try to reach the local sheriff or drive to the nearest hospital in case of emergancy, in case of a fire please stay away from the fire hazard area” I hang up and manage to get the boy into my trailer. I remove the bullet from the boy’s body and sanitize the wound, I then stitch his wound with my sewing kit allowing him to make it to the hospital.

The next day I hop in my pick up truck and drive 2 and a half hours to the nearest hospital where I drop him off in the emergancy drive way. I never seen him again. On my way back to the trailer park I see mobs vandalizing stores everywhere. It is complete and total chaos. I turn on the radio and tune in to a speech from the president who is calling a state of emergancy and has proclaimed that the US government is no longer in control.

This is the world I live in, in 2022, kill or be killed.

CIS with LOCKMAN AKA LOCKDOWN

Hey guys, Just want to start by saying that it was a fun and interesting semester. These DS106 assignments reminded me of my rent and bills in a way. I say this because every section I was wondering how I was going to pull it off and get it all done, I wonder the same thing when it comes to paying my bills lol… But, like everything else I got it done and it might not have been the best in the world but it was for the most part my best. I really enjoyed some of the information that was put out during the student presentations and I learned about PREZI which I used for another course’s presentation. AWESOME

What really sucks is this course will not be offered for students at TUJ after summer12 and I really think that this course covers more than just what is on the syllabus and should remain open for future students…

Friday the THIRTEENTH

Wow can’t believe CIS is finished after the 13th… I wonder if anyone will continue to blog on their wordpress site? I think I will from time to time… How about YOU?

The Way It Should Have Been: Blow

Hello people, I have decided to do my first FanFic assignment from Ds106 called “The way it should have been” and the instructions are clear and can be found here. This assignment seemed like something I could handle on this lonely Friday night with nothing to do but type. For this assignment I decided I would change George Jung‘s life a bit. For those of you who do not know who George Jung is you are either A to young, or B well… B… something (I don’t know)… Anyways George Jung was a major cocaine trafficker in the USA during 1970’s and 80’s, he went by the nickname of Boston George. Hollywood made a film called blow starring Johnny Depp as George and Penelope Cruz as George’s wife Mirtha. Basically the story is focused on George Jung’s life and how he goes from having nothing, to having something, back to having nothing again, and then finally PRISON for good. I will go ahead and write about what I think George Jung should have done. I will not change the bad things he had done but I will change the things that he will do before he went broke.

WARNING BEFORE READING ON YOU MUST WATCH THE FILM “Blow”. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

All has been going well with George’s civilian lifestyle for several years after meeting Pablo Escobar. Diego, George’s right hand man is pushing George to introduce him to his California connect Derek Foreal. George knows that all Diego wants to do is get ahold of his cocaine business and cut him out altogether. After months of avoiding Diego about the matter, George and Diego end up in a Motel room with a bunch of bunch of potential buyers. Diego is very persistent and is making the drug deal very intense with his cursing and arguing with George. The buyers are becoming inpatient and things get very hectic. George tells the buyers “everything is fine, don’t worry” Diego shouts “Your fucking bitch wife? You introduced your California Connect with your fucking bitch wife!!??” “Five years George!! Five YEARS!!!” At this point everything has gone bad and George must make a decision. George senses that the buyers are ready to draw weapons so before they do he quickly draws his weapon and shoots Diego in the head. He then quickly tells the buyers “I am sorry about my partner’s behavior, here is the dope and I am only charging you half if you still want it all” The buyers quickly agree and everyone leaves the motel quickly after the transaction.

George jumps in his convertible and drives 10 miles and stops at a pay phone. He calls the Columbian bosses and tells them “Diego was killed and there is nothing I could do.” The bosses are a little upset because Diego is a Columbian, but they know Diego is wild and being wild is not good for business. The phone call was quick and business will proceed without Diego. On George’s drive home he passes by the motel where Diego was shot and police are everywhere. George is a bit worried and thinks about leaving town for a few weeks until things die down. He returns home and tells his wife “pack your bags, we are going on a trip.”

After several weeks of stopping in various cities throughout South America, George opens an english magazine while waiting for his wife and his daughter to get ready for dinner. He finds himself stuck reading english idioms and catches the phrase “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” this phrase immediately touches him because it sounds like something his father would have said to him. Instantly George has an epiphany and decides he will stop at his bank in South America and withdraw eighty five percent of his money. His wife does not like the idea of having all this money with them especially because of their location. He tells her “listen, we will be fine I promise. Just give me a few days and I will have it in a safe place” Mirtha responds “George! We are not talking about a few thousand dollars here!! We are talking about several fucking hundred fucking million fucking DOLLARS GEORGE!!!” George responds “Look Mirtha, I am just looking out for the best interest of our family, for you, Kristina and me”

Days after…

Mirtha informs George that she is leaving him, and she will give custody of Kristina to him if he gives her half of his money. She also tells him that if he does not give her half she will never let him see his daughter. George is heart broke over Mirtha’s decision but must agree because he loves Kristina more than himself. He agrees and tells her to never return or he will have her head. Mirtha kisses her daughter one last time and is never heard from again. George tells Kristina “everything will be fine and things happen for a reason, some people are in your life for life while others are only for a season.” Kristina hugs George and tells him “Promise me daddy… Promise me you will never leave me” George promises Kristina and he feels that he needs to really turn his life around.

Several months after Mirtha left George business was going smooth and George decided to throw his 38th birthday party at his home. He invited all of his partners and Derek Foreal. George decided that he had had enough of the illegal market and decided he would connect the Columbian bosses with Derek Foreal and get out of the business. He also decides that the party will be very low key and not flashy, no drugs permitted. He informs his partners that he is responsible for Kristina and Mirtha was gone for good so he needs to be there for his daughter 100 percent. They all take a toast and the party was fun.

Several weeks after the party George receives a phone call from his bank in South America. Bank teller “hello, Mr. Jung?” George “Yeah, that’s me” Bank teller “Mr. Jung, uhmm, I regret to inform you that your assets within our bank have been seized by the panamanian government as of today” George “Are you telling me that my fifteen million dollars is no longer available to me?” Bank teller ” Yes, Mr. Jung, you are very lucky that you withdrew most of your money before the government seized it” George while looking at Kristina “yeah I am lucky about a lot of things” George hangs up the phone.

George left the cocaine industry and cleaned up his act. He now owns the UFC and the Boston Redsox. He remarried but never had any more children. His daughter graduated Havard in 2006 and is now George’s lawyer. They live happily ever after….

Watching boxing tonight

Sitting at home with a few cans of beer remaining from my limited stock and Im actually writing essays and being productive. I was sick the last few days so I wasnt very productive then but today was good and I can finish up some of my other classes including this one by tomorrow. Boxing is on TV Japan is punching faces tonight! Well I finally decided it was time to complete my second 106 assignment but now… what do do?

Is Social Networking a Different Language? DS106!!

Instructions: Write a short paper on this topic. Be sure to include some of the saying we use, which one’s you understand and don’t understand, and most of all discuss if social networking language is in fact different from our every day language.

The Process: Before starting this short essay assignment for DS106 I searched for as many acronyms that are commonly used for social media purposes as I knew of via google and my own personal experiences. In google search I typed “The meaning of LoL” and it brought me here. These are all commonly used and I pretty much knew them all already but before I write the essay based solely on my knowledge I wanted to make sure I was correct. I also took a photo of someones comment about the meaning of “LMAO” and they wrote “Love me at once” <— LOL    Also below I have a short list of commonly used acronyms.

The picture was from my iphone I took it here on this page on this page.

A Short List of common Acronyms:

LOL– Laugh out loud LMAO- Laughing my (explicit) off WTF- What the (explicit) FML- (explicit) my life BRB- Be right back G2G- got to go OMG- oh my God/gosh SMH- Shake my head BTW- by the way… BTW this list goes on and on.

A New Language

Social networking sites have become increasingly popular within this decade and involves millions if not billions of users. This increase in use of social networking is due to the advancements in technology, and making the internet and online experiences available to most of the world via computers, smart phones and technology such as the iPad. All of this technology would be useless without apps like Skype or Facebook that connect users in ways like never before. These quick and easy free ways to communicate have become a phenomenon  and also the “reason” users use these products.

Along with the fast way to communicate people have also developed acronyms to replace certain ways of communication such as “LOL” which means laughing out loud and “FML” which means (explicit) my life. This new way of writing has engrained itself into main stream media on all levels and has become the “norm”. The reason why users have created of these acronyms is to substitute for the absence of emotions, when people are speaking in person they are able to see facial expression and hear laughter or crying etc. However, when people communicate through the internet it can be difficult to convey emotional feelings.

Another source used to convey emotions and sometimes replaces the acronyms are images such as 🙂 😦 =) =( these are very basic and there are more graphic images out there called Emoji’s (in Japan). Emoji‘s are a very effective way of expressing feelings and sometimes even explaining something that is simple in nature but somehow language barrier might make it difficult so Emoji’s can become handy.

Conclusion: FYI For your information

Social networking and the use of language within social networking come hand in hand and if you do not know the meaning of the common acronyms I have listed then you are far behind the power curb and there might not be any saving you. There are however acronyms that I have come across which I still dont quite understand so dont feel bad. A few years ago when Twitter became popular I didnt quite get what the hash tag was for, I thought it was putting an emphasis on something. Little did I know it was merely a tool used to connect people who may feel the same way about a subject. Cyber language may take years for older people to understand but for the younger generations it will be as easy as walking a dog.