Technology Review

Myo is a motion-control device that puts the user in control of various electronic devices: phones, tablets and computers. In the form of a one-size-fits-all armband, this product utilizes Bluetooth 4.0, is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac and can be integrated with both Android and IOS. To date, the device recognizes only the five gestures pictured above.

The armband has a wide variety of uses. It can be used to control media and game applications, presentation software such as PowerPoint, a computer's mouse and even drones. Although the apps supported by Myo are in small numbers for the time being, as is Myo can control Netflix, VLC Media Player iTunes, as well as the aforementioned. It does so by pairing to devices via Bluetooth. The configuring process is rather brief, approximately 10 minutes. The armband will also work “out of the box” for those users who can, “add your own configurations using the Keyboard Mapper in Myo Connect or writing your own Myo Connector!”

https://youtu.be/ssxKAFHIJqY

We see what Myo can do, but a good question is how? And more importantly why? Myo is designed to eliminate the need for remotes. According to the blog, the Myo only recognizes five, simple hand gestures for two reasons:

“First, it’s really, really hard to recognize gestures on each individual person’s arm. The muscular and skeletal structure of every arm is unique: what looks like “spread fingers” in one arm might look like “rock on” fingers in another, and so on. Also, the Myo armband needs to be able to work at any position and any orientation on your arm: you should be able to deliver a presentation, slip it off, hand it to the next person (at a different position and upside down) and have it work perfectly for them after a good sync gesture.”

Creators recognize how the human hand is far less complicated than the remotes which they use although it is far less capable of utilizing unique “buttons.” Instead, the Myo’s “version of a button is a gesture. They’re simple, on-off inputs that a computer can understand. Either you’re making the gesture or you aren’t.” The band does require users to set a specific hand gesture which will activate motion control in order to prevent accidental input.

The ultimate goal is to eliminate “false positives,” and it’s something the Myo team is hard at work on. Currently, they are collecting data from all different types of consumer arms. Even if the band is contoured to appropriately execute more hand gestures, the real problem lies in the technology being controlled. As the blog points out, for the augmented-reality technology to excel, the technology itself will need to be designed around products like the Myo instead of “remotes.”

https://youtu.be/te1RBQQlHz4

“The day you plug it in, it will show you a brand new way to interact with technology. The really remarkable part is that developers haven’t even really had a crack at it yet. Once they unleash their imaginations on the Myo Market building applications, sky’s the limit,” says a blogger for Thalmic Labs. The practical use for Myo is nothing in contrast to what it could do! Think of the possibilities in the medical field!

Sources: 

Thalmic Blog 

Myo Support 

PC World

Daily Tekk Review

Popular Culture

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT

South Park: where toilet humor meets satire. Since its humble beginnings in 1997, there’s been no boundary Parker and Stone won’t cross, and absolutely no controversial topic/person off limits. The show and its creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have received just as much criticism as praise for their hyper-aware, potty-mouthed fourth graders. If you’re anything like me, South Park is how you stay entertained and current. This isn't necessarily a bad thing! This animated comedy is infamous for poking fun at relevant social and political issues. From shining light on Antisemitism to racial discrimination and political oversight, South Park has given a relevant, humorous voice to real-world issues over the last 20 years. And yes, this includes President Donald Trump.

Before Trump, a taste of South Park’s genius lampooning of the past. From Season 12 Episode 9 comes the highly controversial, “Trapped in the Closet,” an episode all about Scientology with blatant homosexual undertones. This episode parodies individuals known to be affiliated with the Church of Scientology: Tom Cruise and John Travolta. R. Kelley is simply there to sing the situation into closure. The creators were met with zealous backlash after its air in 2005. According to Hollywood.com, not only did Tom Cruise threaten to "back out of his promotional obligations for Mission Impossible III if Viacom aired a rerun of the episode,” but South Park also lost Isaac Hayes. Hayes had voiced ‘Chef’ from the shows start. Stone and Parker were vocal about both incidents, meeting the controversy with all the grace of the show itself.

In response to Cruise’s antics, Parker and Stone issued the following statement:

“So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for Earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!”

Stone in response to Hayes’ departure from the show:

“This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology . . . He has no problem — and he’s cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians . . . He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”

With the goal to send off the Chef character, a later episode comprised Hayes’ voice work from prior episodes to make a total martyr of the character in the wake of “a silly little club that scrambled his brains.” Parker and Stone have since commented that they don’t believe Hayes wrote the press release which referred to them as bigots, but used the episode mentioned above as a response to the “ridiculous” statement:

"Trapped in the Closet" clip: 

Free Personality Test

It's important to reiterate that the creators don't discriminate against topics, and emphasize nor does it religions. It satirizes many religions all around the world, having attempted to show the Prophet Muhammad on television, speaking on the healing powers of the Virgin Mary's dairy air and adamantly telling the story of the Mormon religion with both the show and a Broadway musical. The show rarely takes itself too seriously. Despite serious, underlying tones, these antics are mostly in good humor. A minor character from the show entails:

“Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life, and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that… All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you’re so high and mighty you couldn’t look past my religion and just be my friend back. You’ve got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls.”

Constant controversy hasn't abated the constant satirizing of current affairs. Thus, it was no surprise when the focus of Season 20 became the 2016 Presidential Election. The audience follows Mr. Garrison, former fourth grade teacher at South Park Elementary, from his days as an an anti-immigration advocate to becoming President of the United States. The character blatantly takes on the guise of Donald Trump, though both candidates are referred to as mascots from old episodes: “Giant Douche” (Garrison) and “Turd Sandwich” (opposing candidate resembling Hilary Clinton). One can’t help but draw the parallels. Have a view:

Roll the Tape

Serialization was a new concept for South Park, beginning with Season 19. Parker and Stone have since hit a wall after finishing Season 20. The creators are well-known for flying by the seat of their pants, but have always managed to produce quality. Perhaps, that wasn’t the case for the last season. It seemed to struggle with the force that was Trump and the snowballing reality of 2017. The duo stated the US political world is “much funnier than anything we could come up with," and "It's tricky now because satire has become reality.” What a place to be for the apparent Kings of Satire! As a fan, I'd have to agree that the season in question was seemingly forced, reaching as far as possible for plot points and comical elements. It was all too apparent what they were attempting to satirize was already far ahead of the game, and serialization further complicated the process. I never thought I'd see the day where reality would surpass the dark satire that is South Park.

Stone and Parker on Season 20

“South Park has survived for 20 seasons by making chaos out of our imperfect reality. When our reality becomes more chaotic than South Park could even imagine, the show crumbles. And the creators know it, too. This season finale was titled "The End of Serialization as We Know It," and I can imagine why Parker and Stone are done with that incredible experiment. And if it seems like I'm putting too much thought into a cartoon about kids who say bad words, it's because the analysis is deserved. South Park has won a Peabody Award, five Emmys and Parker and Stone have won four Tony and a Grammy. This show deserves to be held at a higher standard, because it often holds us at a higher standard.” 

-Matt Miller, Esquire

References:

Esquire 

South Park Wikia 

Hollywood.com

IGN 

Television Review

Shark Tank is a reality which combines the entertainment value of competition with the learning experience of educational programming. The premise is this: burgeoning entrepreneurs pitch a product/business concept in hopes one or more sharks bite! If you aren’t business savvy, don’t fret, it only takes a few episodes to familiarize yourself with the lingo. Who thought one could learn something and be entertained at the same time?!

Spanning nine seasons to date, Shark Tank has showcased and brought success to several inventive products. This was part of the reason I found this show. My interest in the show American Inventor, from way back when, had me searching clips on YouTube. I stumbled across Dragon’s Den (the UK equivalent of Shark Tank). The dragons did indeed come before the sharks, but the den was doing something the tank wasn’t. The UK version always used the dragon’s quirks to the show’s advantage. This is an idea that the ABC version hadn’t first relied on, which might be saving it now.

I'm sure talk of "evaluations" and "equity" isn’t conversation most audiences would be interested in. Shark Tank must have been floating on unique products in the beginning, drawing in 7.9 million viewers on average during the fifth season. This hasn’t been the case lately, however. While Shark Tank keeps our attention with peculiar products, fast-paced dialogue and precision editing (lead the audience to believe this is going bad, and cut to commercial), it seems to have finally adopted an idea from its predecessor. The focus has shifted more on the sharks in later seasons. Their relationships have blossomed, and their personalities are becoming a central focus.

Audiences have come to despise no shark more than Keven O'leary, the literal shark on this program. Nicknamed by himself, Mr. Wonderful, he is unafraid to squash dreams and "cockroaches" alike. “Show me the money,” He’ll say after every pitch because it’s always about the money and not much else to Mr. Wonderful. Audiences have formed a love/hate relationship with this shark. Yes, that includes the other sharks. O'leary makes up his mind rather quickly. He's snappish and curt, and I’m certainly a fan. Never afraid to speak his mind, Mr. Wonderful is easily half of Shark Tank's entertainment value. I don't believe he'll be sharing the middle chair with any one for as many seasons as ABC wishes to gift us. 

You can watch the latest season on Hulu, but do yourself a favor and check out the Mr. Wonderful music video:

 "I'm Mr. Wonderful"

O’leary and Herjavec have always been my favorites of the program. Herjavec is the figurative angel on everyone’s shoulder desperately pleading for you not to listen to O’leary on the other. Then again, all of the sharks have come around to sassing Mr. Wonderful. Shark Tank features a variety of sharks who interchange through seasons and episodes. Click the link below to meet those of the latest season:

Meet the Sharks

Sources:
ABC Shark Tank Page
Business Insider
IMBD

Music Review

Amy Lee is best known as the front woman of the "goth-rock/alternative-rock/nu metal" band Evanescence, who hit it big at the turn of the century. In 2002, Evanescence released their first album. Fallen met huge success being certified seven times platinum. If your a 90s baby, you might recall the melodic piano intro and vocal desperation of Bring Me to Life. Perhaps the symphonic tearjerker, My Immortal, lingers somewhere within those years of high school and teenage angst as well? It was the one song from the debut album which resonated with anyone, anywhere and any age.

If you listen to Evanescence after the grunge era faded, you'll find that Lee's vocals have matured, the music is much more complex and the lyrical content is no longer the equivalent to a teenage girl's diary. But to Lee's credit, she was no more than a teenager when the band formed, and Fallen was nothing but a tidy version of old, old demos. Ben Moody (former lead guitar) and Amy Lee found a common ground between heavily distorted guitar riffs and enchanting piano melodies. The product spoke to an audience whom had never before existed. Moody and Lee have since parted ways.

Evanescence has gone through a few lineup changes in the last 14 years with only two studio albums and one live album succeeding their debut. The Open Door of 2006 was certified double-platinum, and was a much darker addition. The band’s self-titled album of 2011 was certified gold, hitting a much happier note than its predecessor. 

Since, the band has been rather quiet. But that changed in 2014 when Lee began dropping hints of a new project. This was Aftermath, a film score Lee had done with cellist Dave Eggar for the film War Story. Fan reception was mixed, as only two tracks featured vocals. It was a side of Lee fans weren’t used to. The pop-like/electronic vibrations of Push the Button seemed to be a far cry from the power cords of Evanescence. In reality, it was Evanescence minus the sound of the head-banging rock music we all know and love.

The release of the film score happened to come in the same year as the birth of Lee’s first child. The birth of her son brought out a part of her that didn’t fully resonate with those old, dismal feelings, “I think having Jack just makes things less scary for me. I have more confidence and a little bit more of a light heart in terms of what’s going to kill me and what I can handle.”

Two years passed with no promises for future Evanescence material, but Lee was adamant about letting her fans know that she wasn’t giving up music. And slowly new material started to hit Lee’s YouTube channel and personal website. Then, in February of 2016, Lee’s first solo album hit iTunes. Recover Vol. 1 was a bittersweet gift to Evanescence and Amy Lee fans alike. The album included four cover songs the musician had strategically trickled onto social media over the course of three months. Not one of these songs sounds or feels like Evanescence, and that is what makes them so interesting. Each track was promoted with a music video, all of which support the simplistic, black and white theme of both the music and cover art. With this album, Lee gives fans a taste of the music that shaped her as a musician but with her own spin.

Track 1: It’s a Fire (Portishead)
This song is rather simple, as far as instruments are concerned. Just a keyboard and strings accent Lee’s melancholic vocals, and shine they do! The harmonizing vocals are either very soft or nonexistent; something Evanescence fans might find alarming. This song feels very unprocessed. It’s simply Lee and her piano/keyboard. As a classically-trained pianist, Lee never disappoints on said type of performance.

Amy Lee - It's a Fire

Track 2: With or Without You (U2)
Begging, aching and longing are all emotions portrayed best in this song by Lee’s voice alone. It really shows her range well. The valleys of alto and peaks of soprano are an ethereal journey for the listener. The song is haunting and sensual, and it’s no surprise since Lee claims to have heard it in her sleep right before waking. It is one of two songs which makes heavy use of a synthesizer.

Amy Lee - With or Without You

Track 3: Going to California (Led Zeppelin)
Staying true to the original, this track is beautifully simplistic with nothing but an acoustic guitar and Lee being the makeup. She manages to hit some glass-shattering notes in a modest amount. The track concludes with her humming along to the music as if it were a tune close to her heart. It should be no surprise that Lee claims this is a song her musically inclined family used to gather in the living room and perform.

Amy Lee - Going to California

Track 4: Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing (Chris Isaak)
Talk about kicking it up a notch! This number was done for a film scene, but rejection didn’t keep it from seeing the light of day. The final track mirrors that of Push the Button. It’s sassy, it’s pop and it’s heavily synthesized! It’s everything you wouldn’t expect from Lee and more! Like the aforementioned track from Aftermath, however, it works. It works in a very strange way. Lee’s voice mingles sexily with itself, sexy being a term one wouldn’t coin any Evanescence track with. It shows the mature yet adventurous side of Lee. It’s a bold track that makes a bold statement.

 Amy Lee - Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing

As a huge fan of both Evanescence and Amy Lee, I was surprisingly delighted by this album. Admittedly, I had warmed up to the new sound from listening to the film score. It took me a few days to decide if I was comfortable with this definitely-not-Evanescence sound, but I did. As a die-hard fan, I realized I would follow Lee just about anywhere in her music ventures. All great musicians mature, and I respect those who aren’t afraid to try new things. In Lee’s case, it happened to be a step in the right direction. As a solo act, she is able to elevate certain aspects fans love about the music of Evanescence.

There is talk of future Evanescence material. The band is currently on tour promoting the release of a box set. As far as Recover Vol. 2, fans aren’t opposed to the idea as Volume One received positive feedback (five-star rating on iTunes). I know I’ll be looking forward to it. For now, maybe Evanescence fan's can get their fix from Lee's new children's album Dream to Much . . . no sarcasm intended!

References: 

I'm Music Magazine

Recover Vol. 1 iTunes

AltWire Interview with Amy Lee

Amy Lee Youtube Channel

Wikipedia.org