Wow - again it appears that we, as a human race, are simply not paying enough attention to our inevitable demise and mostly of our own doing.  Mother earth and mother nature will wash this planet clean because mankind continues to interfere with its natural weather systems.

From my comments on this issue you should note that I am terribly concerned about our fate on this planet as time passes on.  But despite this, I'm also intrigued by the fact that we seem, as a human collective, unable to do anything at this point in time to actually change the trajectory of earth's eventual demise.  In essence, it appears as though we're already doomed particularly because of our lack of concern.  If you are paying attention, you should realize that the signs are unfortunately clearer and clearer and becoming more ominous over time.  So if we have any care in the world at all, we should be concerned.

• Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week

• One of the largest banks issued an alarming warning that Earth is running out of the resources to sustain life
• This week's record-breaking heat has human fingerprints all over it
• A city in Oman just posted the world’s hottest low temperature ever recorded: 109 degrees
  (I've highlighted some even more alarming data in this Washington Post article)
• Sydney Just Had Its Hottest Night Ever, And Everybody Is Really Grumpy
• Nasa: Earth is warming at a pace 'unprecedented in 1,000 years'

Oh and by the way these are just a really small sampling of what's really going on with our planet.  

I found NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio from 1884 to 2017 profoundly telling and this is why I'm reiterating that despite what the non-believers and conspiracy theorists are saying, ALL of the evidence and ALL of the data can't ALL be wrong.  So that's why I'm saying that we should ALL be really concerned because this issue impacts ALL of us.

Anatol Rodgers High conducts a General Election Simulation!

ARH 2017 Election Simulation/Survey

The parties are:

Lavender (PURPLE)

Lignum Vitae (GREEN)

Poinciana (RED)

Yellow Elder (YELLOW)

Mankind is messing with this planet's weather

I reiterate my concern about global weather conditions once again since so many people in our world are either intentionally oblivious or are aware but just couldn't give a flying five cents about the situation.  I'm concerned because quite frankly I'm afraid for all of us on this planet we call our home.  We are slowly but surely destroying this planet.  It's a sad reality.

I'm also concerned because, for me, I'm seeing unprecedented changes in the weather around the world which obviously would include my country.  The heat, for one, has been like never before and today I'm seeing clear scientific evidence to support my suspicions.  The top story in this morning's Yahoo report was "July was Earth's hottest month on record" and this was further supported by NOAA's July 2015 Global Analysis.

Other sites that you would find interesting since they relate to my captioned theory are as follows:

"Everything relies on everything else..."

"We're Destroying the Planet in Ways That Are Even Worse Than Global Warming"

Be in complete control of your own learning, create PLNs

As I designed and developed the activities for my performance support (PS) project, I was somewhat surprised at how gratifying it was to be able to curate and share information with a community of fellow musicians. My project "The Bass Hub" was inspirational not just because I'm a bassist but because it was something that I had wanted to do for sometime but wasn't motivated enough to take the first step. Okay I admit that this Web 2.0 course was a strong motivator but I'm so happy that I took that step.  I felt like the proverbial horse who was led to the water and while not forced to drink, I realized that water was actually good for me and thus decided to drink of my own volition.

My PS project was expansive enough to be incorporated into my personal learning network (PLN) since the central theme for my PLN was my passion for music and, by extension, my love for the bass guitar.  I enjoyed curating, sharing and communicating so much that I am now an advocate for PLNs especially if you're a budding or seasoned educator.  I like that you, as the user/learner, are in complete control of your environment.  You decide who you'll converse/associate with and you decide whether the content is worthy of your attention. You choose the tools and decide who'll be in your network.  The frequency of your interactions or consultations are also determined by you. It is just that open and as such you'll soon appreciate that only the 'sky is your limit' on creativity and innovation. I certainly hope PLNs become a more prevalent online pastime in the future.

Web 2.0 - there's just so much stuff out there!

For me, the past ten weeks have been a roller coaster ride of emotions. From anxiety, frustration and disappointment to excitement, curiosity, enjoyment and numerous 'wow' moments, the time spent in this course has truly been a rewarding educational experience. Being immersed in Web 2.0-based learning and performance concepts and tools at first took me well out of my comfort zone of usual online activity, but now I can say that it was truly worth it. I am still amazed by the number of tools that are out there in cyber land. In fact, when folks reference almost any technological idea under the sun, we often joke that "there's an app for that!"  Funnily enough, we really not that far off.

With over a million apps on Google Play and over 900,000 on Apple's App Store, you can imagine that quality will not always be the watchword. I notice too that we casually throw these figures around like they're no big deal, but according to my calculations if you use or experiment with at least 270 apps every single day of your life, it will take you roughly ten years to get through 1 million! And what's even funnier is that by the time you get through that million, there will probably be at least a million more new ones. So remember that whatever crazy electronic concept you might think of, there's probably an App for that already, or one in the making.

Also, with so many apps, I can appreciate why the Web 2.0 environment is frequently being reshaped and re-tooled. In fact, it is against this backdrop that I expect to be learning about new concepts, developments and tools long after I've completed this course. There's just so much going on out there that you wouldn't believe that just ten years ago, the Web 2.0 platform was only being conceptualized and developed.

All of this leaves me wondering what the next ten years will look like. Maybe there's an app that will predict or estimate what this will look like! The talk of a Web 3.0 or the Semantic Web has not fully taken off yet but maybe it will in the very near future. But there's also Bitcloud that wants to replace the internet and the initiative by CERN (known as the Worldwide Grid) for an unfathomably fast internet. To add to all of this, there is also the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE) which all makes you curious about how these platforms will change the internet's technological landscape. Again, you just have to wonder, what's going to be next?

Social media in the fight against crime

Sometimes you just gatta love social media. I think many people do have a love/hate relationship with it but when you see stories like these, you'll start loving it again.

I had to laugh at Roger Ireland’s very amusing story. Roger decided that he'd respond to a police Facebook page that posted him as a wanted man. His response: “Y’all will never catch me”. Well the postings captured the attention of concerned residents and they began tagging Ireland's family members to the Facebook posts. Of course he was caught soon thereafter and was clearly annoyed that residents had responded to the police's posts and tagged his family which led the police straight to him. Those darned posting and tagging Facebook residents, you gatta love 'em. Maybe Ireland thought that only police officers are on Facebook - very 'smart' isn't it? As the police captain aptly put it to Yahoo News, “he should have kept his mouth shut.”

Then there's Danielle Saxton who posted Facebook photos of herself in a very unique but stolen dress. Did I mention 'not smart'? The things folks do to get attention on social media! There are countless examples of people posting inappropriate or ill-advised statements, photos or videos online. With these unwise actions, often rooted in people's desire for attention, there's no wonder why the police can use social media as an effective tool in the fight against crime. Here are some recent examples where it was useful in helping the police identify and capture suspects:

•   Facebook Selfie Helps Police Identify Fraud Suspect

•   Social Media Helps Police Identify Theft Suspect

•   Social Media Helps Nab Suspected Carjacker

•   Social Media Helps Police Track Down Assault Suspect

•   Police use social media to help catch suspects

•   Social media helps Ormond Beach police catch bank fraud suspect

•   Social media monitoring helps police nab drug dealer

I must admit though, the use of social media to fight crime makes me wonder just how far the police are prepared to go. "The Crazy, Cool and Unsettling Ways Police Are Using Social Media" is an interesting report that begins to address some of these potentially complex concerns.

Robotic Prosthetics

I was searching around TED Talks, as I often do, trying to find inspirational ideas about teaching and learning in social networking environments. As I searched, I soon found myself sightly distracted but totally enthralled by Hugh Herr's story. You see Hugh was once a very talented rock climber.  In fact he was considered a child prodigy and by age 17, was one of the best in the United States. Sadly, some thirty years ago during one of his climbing expeditions, Hugh and a fellow climber were caught in a blizzard which rendered them stranded in -20 degree weather for more than three days. They both suffered severe frostbite by the time they were rescued and as a result both of Hugh's legs had to be amputated from below the knees. His colleague also lost a leg and much of the other foot.

Of course Hugh's doctors advised him that he'd never climb again but against the odds, he helped to design prosthetic limbs that helped him relive his dreams of climbing once again.  During a TED Talks presentation, Hugh explains the incredible and innovative designs of his robotic prosthetics.  He currently heads the MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group and through his designs he is viewed as an architect for the next generation of bionic limbs and robotic prosthetics.

Hugh's story is so incredibly touching that I began wondering if it had any impact on social media. Though I'd expected some traction, I was surprised that by March of this year, his TED Talks presentation had received more than 2.2 million views from the TED Talks website. To date, Youtube shows that there have been over 750,000 views, 6,450 shares and almost 18,000 likes. Hugh's story is truly inspiring and I encourage you to take some time to check it out. I think you too will be amazed at where technology is headed.