You know what's funny? I've been thinking about the same concept regarding Newspeak that Maybe I'll Catch Fire mentioned in his last post. I will receive emails written in Textspeak. I refuse to answer them. If you cannot write an email properly than I see no reason why I should struggle to understand your Textspeak. Is it really that difficult to write an email with proper sentences. I've received texts written in Textspeak. In some cases I'll send one back asking them to clarify what the hell they are saying. If i'm going to learn another language it will be Chinese or Spanish, not Textspeak. . I can only imagine the frustration I'll Catch Fire must have to see textspeak on student essays. I think it is time for his students to read 1984. Then have a nice class discussion on Newspeak and their thoughts. Then point out the similiarities between Newspeak and Textspeak.
The Patriot Act may not be the downfall of the American Empire. But I feel that September 11 started the downfall of our Empire. Rome was only safe because no one dared attack it. The city had an aura of invicibility. To attack the city would be suicide. You would not succeed. One day barbarians knocked at the gate. They sacked the once invincible city of Rome. It lost all it's aura and mystique. The Roman Empire became more militaristic and less democractic. If one group of barbarians could do it so could another.
We all know what eventually happened. I see parallels between September 11 and the first barbarians at the gate for Rome. For a long time we saw ourselves as invincible. No one would attack American soil. We are have an ocean separating us from any major powers. During World War I and II we were safe from major battles. After that we felt safe and secure knowing that ocean was huge. We could stop any attack before it hit us. We'd see any enemy approaching our gates before they could arrive.
Then came September 11. A group of guerilla fighters, our version of barbarians, attacked us. And not just anywhere but on our own soil. On two symbols of American power, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Not long afterwards The Patriot Act was passed. We lost many little freedoms and no one cared. If it would protect us from other barbarians, please take away our rights. The best example of losing freedom is to look at airtravel. The restrictions are unbelievable. You can't just arrive 45 minutes before a flight. You need a minimum of two hours!
We developed a mentality of you're either with us or you are against us. If you don't support us then you support terrorism. Does anyone remember Freedom Fries? I was in Europe during that period. Let me tell you the Europeans had a good laugh over stupid concepts like that.
Were is this post going? I'm not sure. But then again most of my posts end like that. All I can say is this: beware. We are entering a historically significant era in world history. Where does the greatest Empire in history go from here? Do they continue their slow slide into mediocrity? Or do they bounce back with a militaristic vengeance?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
1984 in 2009
I've been thinking about this concept a lot lately and after about a year of contemplation, I am finally going to discuss it.
One of my favorite books is 1984. I read it during High School when I was a young angry punk rocker and it spoke to me. As the years progressed I always referred to it as my favorite book. Following the tragic events in 2001, I thought the U.S. would slowly push it's way towards a more strictly controlled government as that seen in the novel. The Patriot Act would be the downfall of the republic!
While my fears have proved to based more on paranoia, I continue to see society moving closer to the beast that was referred to as Ingsoc.
What is driving us there? Text and IM speak.
As a teacher I have been able to see first hand the trouble with both spelling and grammar that text is creating. Often I see people use the 8 as is sk8 (although that has been the norm for some time). Use of C and U to represent see and you has also been common, among the "Lisa Frank" girls. However the line has always been drawn when it came time to write a formal piece for class. This is not always the case anymore. I've begun seeing students attemp to use terms like "lol" as part of everyday vocabulary, both in class and in writing assignments.
One of the foundations of Ingsoc (or English Socialism) was Newspeak. The goal of newspeak in the novel and in the society of 1984 was to create a new language. This language based on English has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar.
Newspeak commonly eliminated words and combined words to make the most efficient terms possible. For example in 1984 words like better and best and even bad were eliminated, and prefixes and suffix took control. Instead there was good, gooder, goodest and ungood. Words that could be combined were such as Dayorder taking place of a phrase like order of the day.
In the long run the goal was to destry freedom and independent thought. Works liek Shakespeare and Chaucer would be impossible to read for someone versed in newspeak.
Similar word combinations can be cited in texting and IM. BRB, WTF, LOL, THX, l8r, and many others have become common. In some langauges, numbers and words are even connected to create a shorter form of communication. For example 520 in Chinese ("wu er ling") sound like the words for "I love you" ("wo ai ni"). The sequence 748 ("qi si ba") sounds like the curse for "drop dead".
This Orwellian trend seems disturbing, but I am curious to see how the rapid increase in the number to phones with qwerty keypads will play into this trend. Seeing as Instant Messengers have been using these terms and phrases for over ten years, I doubt it will help.
Newspeak is creeping its way into communication and if it continues to creep its way into the education system, how far can AmSoc be? IDK!
One of my favorite books is 1984. I read it during High School when I was a young angry punk rocker and it spoke to me. As the years progressed I always referred to it as my favorite book. Following the tragic events in 2001, I thought the U.S. would slowly push it's way towards a more strictly controlled government as that seen in the novel. The Patriot Act would be the downfall of the republic!
While my fears have proved to based more on paranoia, I continue to see society moving closer to the beast that was referred to as Ingsoc.
What is driving us there? Text and IM speak.
As a teacher I have been able to see first hand the trouble with both spelling and grammar that text is creating. Often I see people use the 8 as is sk8 (although that has been the norm for some time). Use of C and U to represent see and you has also been common, among the "Lisa Frank" girls. However the line has always been drawn when it came time to write a formal piece for class. This is not always the case anymore. I've begun seeing students attemp to use terms like "lol" as part of everyday vocabulary, both in class and in writing assignments.
One of the foundations of Ingsoc (or English Socialism) was Newspeak. The goal of newspeak in the novel and in the society of 1984 was to create a new language. This language based on English has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar.
Newspeak commonly eliminated words and combined words to make the most efficient terms possible. For example in 1984 words like better and best and even bad were eliminated, and prefixes and suffix took control. Instead there was good, gooder, goodest and ungood. Words that could be combined were such as Dayorder taking place of a phrase like order of the day.
In the long run the goal was to destry freedom and independent thought. Works liek Shakespeare and Chaucer would be impossible to read for someone versed in newspeak.
Similar word combinations can be cited in texting and IM. BRB, WTF, LOL, THX, l8r, and many others have become common. In some langauges, numbers and words are even connected to create a shorter form of communication. For example 520 in Chinese ("wu er ling") sound like the words for "I love you" ("wo ai ni"). The sequence 748 ("qi si ba") sounds like the curse for "drop dead".
This Orwellian trend seems disturbing, but I am curious to see how the rapid increase in the number to phones with qwerty keypads will play into this trend. Seeing as Instant Messengers have been using these terms and phrases for over ten years, I doubt it will help.
Newspeak is creeping its way into communication and if it continues to creep its way into the education system, how far can AmSoc be? IDK!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Star Trek
After a five month release delay the new Star Trek movie makes its much anticipated debut. I for one am very much looking forward to it. In fact I will be seeing it tomorrow night. No not at midnight either. Most theaters seem to be playing it starting at around 7pm. I'll be at one of those showings. Midnight showings have never been my thing. I'd rather just wait for the next day to see it. Now 7 or 8pm showings, that is different. And no I can guarantee I will not be dressed in costume. I have never done that and I never will. I don't feel the need to play out some fantasy and dress up as a Starfleet Officer.
Star Trek was originally supposed to debut back in December of 2008. Apparently the suits saw dailies of the filming. They immediately realized this movie had the potential to be a big summer hit. One that could appeal to Trek and non Trek fans alike. I could not agree more. I have friends who never watched Star Trek growing up. Yet they want to see the movie. I even have friends who prefer Star Wars. They too want to see the franchise reboot. With this in mind, the suits decided to push the release date of Star Trek back to the summer months. They figured the movie would make a lot more money with a summer release.
In this situation I have to disagree with the suits. If a movie is good, the release date does not matter. It will still make tons of money. The first four Harry Potter movies were released in November. They have made a fortune for Warner Bros. The same can be said about The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They were released during the winter. We all know how much money they made. In fact I believe releasing Star Trek in the summer will eat into the profits.
The summer months bring out all the big blockbusters. That leaves too much competition among films. In today's climate no one wants to spend money to see three big blockbusters in one month, let alone all summer. People have to pick and choose the films they go to see. Some of the audience that would normally see Star Trek won't spend the money to see it. They may have spent the money to see X-Men: Wolverine. Or they may wait a week to see Angels & Demons. That is money taken from the profits of one movie and deposited into another.
The suits should have kept the original release date in December. Star Trek would have had no big blockbuster competition. If the movie does have that wide appeal the suits think it has, people would have flocked to see it. Filmgoers would have been less likely to spend money on the typical holiday schlock. They would have spent it to see a potentially great movie called Star Trek.
This new movie will be successful. This new movie will make a profit. This new movie sacrificed it's profit margin with a later release date. Let us hope the next Star Trek movie will have a better release date. Come on, don't act surprised. After all, the main actors have been signed on for two more films.
I'll end with this. Reboots seem to be the in thing these days. In about thirty years George Lucas may not be with us anymore. Will we see a Star Wars reboot at that time?
Star Trek was originally supposed to debut back in December of 2008. Apparently the suits saw dailies of the filming. They immediately realized this movie had the potential to be a big summer hit. One that could appeal to Trek and non Trek fans alike. I could not agree more. I have friends who never watched Star Trek growing up. Yet they want to see the movie. I even have friends who prefer Star Wars. They too want to see the franchise reboot. With this in mind, the suits decided to push the release date of Star Trek back to the summer months. They figured the movie would make a lot more money with a summer release.
In this situation I have to disagree with the suits. If a movie is good, the release date does not matter. It will still make tons of money. The first four Harry Potter movies were released in November. They have made a fortune for Warner Bros. The same can be said about The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They were released during the winter. We all know how much money they made. In fact I believe releasing Star Trek in the summer will eat into the profits.
The summer months bring out all the big blockbusters. That leaves too much competition among films. In today's climate no one wants to spend money to see three big blockbusters in one month, let alone all summer. People have to pick and choose the films they go to see. Some of the audience that would normally see Star Trek won't spend the money to see it. They may have spent the money to see X-Men: Wolverine. Or they may wait a week to see Angels & Demons. That is money taken from the profits of one movie and deposited into another.
The suits should have kept the original release date in December. Star Trek would have had no big blockbuster competition. If the movie does have that wide appeal the suits think it has, people would have flocked to see it. Filmgoers would have been less likely to spend money on the typical holiday schlock. They would have spent it to see a potentially great movie called Star Trek.
This new movie will be successful. This new movie will make a profit. This new movie sacrificed it's profit margin with a later release date. Let us hope the next Star Trek movie will have a better release date. Come on, don't act surprised. After all, the main actors have been signed on for two more films.
I'll end with this. Reboots seem to be the in thing these days. In about thirty years George Lucas may not be with us anymore. Will we see a Star Wars reboot at that time?
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