It is a phenomena that is always evolving, potentially endless, especially at the rate it is growing today. Over the past few decades, technological advancements have well surpassed what anyone thought possible. Most of these advancements have made life easier for most citizens of the world, but is there a catch?

Sure technology has helped many of us with our everyday lives. Heck, most of us would be lost without it. Literally.

Thanks to things like GPS and OnStar, a lot of individuals would still be looking for the right path. Technological advancements have helped us out as a species on countless occasions.

Everyday I see people hooked into their electronics; whether it be cellphones, laptops, television, etc. All of these things have helped made our lives better, but really, haven’t we just furthered ourselves from reality.

The more we depend on electronics the more we distance ourselves from the perception of others. Picture this scenario. You are having a candid discussion with someone (topic of your choice), then you feel a subtle vibration. Then all of a sudden the person you are talking to whips out their phone and you realize you were feeling the vibration emanating from your peers cellphone.  Not only does that person check the phone, but they must respond to the text message they receive right in the middle of the conversation.

I’ve seen this happen to many people, and it really irritates me. Are we so dependent on technology as a species? I find it ironic that the device we use to keep ourselves in closer relation to others actual distances us from the people we are closest to. It all comes down to one thing.

Consumerism

Do we really have enough? Do we have too much?

I love my country, and my continent. However, I will admit that we are one of greediest (if not the most greediest) nations on the planet. We have to cut down on everything. We need to stop letting our thumbs talk for us, and start using our voices again.

This is why everyone must “unplug” every few months. We need to get away from technology as often as we can and cut any technological strings we may have attached to us. It is not only good physically, but mentally as well. Go to the cottage, go visit family, or even stay home; as long as you don’t use anything electronic. There has to be a balance.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology. I actually call myself a gadget freak, but I have learned an important lesson. Technology is nothing without a vessel, and as vessels, we are nothing if we start to distance ourselves from those that are close to us.

Over the years technology and sports have evolved hand in hand. New technologies have proved not only useful on the field, but also in the healing process from injuries resulting in sports.

But when does the line get pushed too far? Why is it that these athletes get access to better technology and better medical care than the rest of us.  Sure they make millions of dollars and the livelihood of entire companies ride on the success of these athletes, but that can’t be all….Can it?

I’m going to discuss a few of the technologies that are used in sports, for the field, and for healing.

Hawk-Eye technology

Hawk-Eye is the name of a computer and camera system which traces a ball’s trajectory. As of now, it is used in tennis and cricket, but many other sports are looking at making use of this technology. Soccer is the next sport to make full use of this technology. A company in the United Kingdom developed the system to determine whether or not a ball had crossed the line.  The  camera films 600 frames a second on the goal-line. The information is analyzed by a computer system and sent to the referee for evaluation.

Cooling Vest

A cooling vest (also know as an ice vest) is a piece of equipment that is used by athletes to cool then down. Cooling vests are also used by industry workers, doctors, and they are now being used for people with Multiple Sclerosis. Olympic athletes (in the 2008 Beijing Olympics) have been seen using light weight cooling vests.  They would do so to cool down and hour or two before Olympic events in Beijing, due to the intense heat. A study reported a 21% increase in an athletes endurance due to the cooling vest.

Hyperbaric Chamber

Hyperbaric medicine (also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy-HBOT) is the use of oxygen for medical purposes, where the level of atmospheric pressure is higher than normal.This allows the body to heal at a much faster and much more worry-free rate, as opposed to normal healing methods. These methods are very scarce in Canada, due to cost. In the U.S.,  HBOT is sometimes seen as a method of treatment that is reimbursable by fourteen UHMS approved conditions. A 1-hour HBOT session may cost between $108 to $250 in private clinics and over $1,000 in hospitals. Physicians in the United States may lawfully prescribe HBOT sessions for conditions such as Lyme Disease, stroke, and severe migraines. Athletes of course get this service for free. When injured, athletes from all sports are able to have access to this type of medicine

If so much research, time and money are spent on technological discoveries that will help athletes, maybe we can start using these things for individuals in society.

Technology, whether it be in sports or in everyday life, should not only be used for the people who are wealthy, but for everyone in need. It is good to know that the availability of these technologies are becoming more available to the the everyday person. Things like hyperbaric medicine, while still expensive, is becoming more and more inexpensive as time passes, due to technological growth. I just hope these methods will continue to better society, rather than a small group of people.

A special thanks to Wikipedia for its information on sports technology.

Although the year just started, I feel there are many topics of discussion. Here some lists I came up with.

Top 10 Employers in Canada

As soon-to-be graduates, we are all stressing about our future. Here are the top ten Canadian employers in alphabetical order.

1. Bank of Montreal
2. Cameco Corporation
3. Ericsson Canada Inc.
4. Goldcorp Inc.
5. Honeywell Ltd.
6. McGill University
7. Ontario Power Generation Inc.
8. Shell Canada Limited
9. Telus Corporation
10. Yellow Pages Group Co.

These companies are in the top ten due to a few factors; best pay and benefits for employees, work environment and managerial staff. Everyone, not just recent graduates, should look for employment at these companies.

Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions

I have done some research on this and it seems everyone generally wants the same thing for themselves.

1. Quit smoking
2. Loose weight and get fit
3. Cut down on drinking
4. Learn something new
5. Get out of debt

It seems this list is quite selfish. Everyone wants to better themselves. This is a good thing, but there was hardly anything I found on making the world better, helping other, volunteering, etc. Maybe this falls back on the argument that we have to better ourselves before we can help others….hopefully people aren’t using that as a cop out.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010

1. Shutter Island
2. Alice In Wonderland
3. Nightmare on Em Street
4. Iron Man 2
5. Robin Hood
6. The A-Team
7. Eclipse
8. Inception
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
10. The Green Hornet

I can see why these movies are on the top ten list. Martin Scorsese is known as one of the best North American directors, and that’s why I;m not surprised Shutter Island is at the top spot. I personally can’t wait for Iron Man 2, which follows Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and his adventures as the title character. Other movies include Robin Hood, with Russell Crowe. usually, Robin Hood is seen as a child’s character or even a campy character, but this serious take on the story should make this film a crowd pleaser.

So far 2010 seems like a good year, and hopefully it continues to be a great year for all.

Thank you Access Hollywood for your top ten film list.

http://www.accesshollywood.com/access-top-10-most-anticipated-movies-of-2010_gallery_2160

This happens to many young adults when deciding whether or not they should attend a college or university. The pressure to attend such an establishment has grown immensely over the past couple of decades.

Of course this always goes back to the argument that our parents want us to lead more fulfilling lives than they did. The thing is though, when they were younger, looking for jobs, the hunt was a lot easier. A high school diploma was good enough then to get a job for which you need an undergrad now.

There is the argument that you can get a great job with just your high school diploma. Of course, these jobs do not come easily. You have to be working at a certain establishment for many years before you get a full-time position. For example, full-time hires at the LCBO make around $50, 000 a year, but it takes several years as a part-timer to get a full position.

This begs the question: Is the time is takes to get a full-time position more than the money it takes to get a college/university degree?

This of course depends on the person.  There are really two options. Work right out of high school or go to a post-secondary institution. It comes down to what you want for yourself.

Do not let teachers, counselors or even parents tell you what you should do, because only you really know what you want, or what you are good at, and you should use that to make yourself a very dangerous person in the job world.

Last weekend, I went to Sotto Sotto Trattoria which is located on Avenue Road. If you are looking for traditional Italian dining this is the place to go. Of course, not everything about the restaurant was great, but I’ll get into that later.

The menu was quite vast, I felt like I was at an Italian wedding. The atmosphere was quite nice, with music of Italian origin. The food was very fresh and delicious. The owner actually came up to my table and asked how everything was, which sort of gave me a feeling of warmth.

Now, it did take a little while for the server and food to come, but that may have had something to do with the fact that it was Valentine’s weekend. Another thing that irked me was the prices. The prices were a little high, and I checked the online menu before we went, and the prices were different,  so I inquired why they were different. I was told that the prices “changed for Valentine’s weekend”. This of course meant that they raised the prices because they knew they would get a lot of business during this time period. So all in all, I would suggest that you dine at this restaurant at least once. Let me know what you think.

Last week, I went to the theatre and watched The Book of Eli. Seeing the preview for this movie, I wanted to see it almost immediately, and I was pretty impressed by the storyline. Without giving too much away, the movie is about a post-apocalyptic world where there is only one Bible remaining, due to people burning and destroying all the copies. A power hungry man, played by Gary Oldman, wants the last copy because he knows the power the words can have over people. The movie all in a was a hot for me, with a great combination of action, drama, and great story.

I recently purchased the new BlackBerry Bold. Compared to my old phone, the BlackBerry Pearl, this is a major step up. The new layout makes it so much easier to access the phones features. The trackpad makes it so much easier to navigate through the phone. It also makes it impossible to get dirty, which was a major issue with my old BlackBerry and its trackball feature.

However, there are some issues though with this new phone. For one, it’s only been a month and the battery is not lasting as long as it originally did. The dreadful hourglass has been coming up at random times. I thought it was only older model BlackBerrys that were plagued by the hourglass of doom, but I guess it’s inescapable. It just further proves my theory that phone companies purposefully build cellphones to break. Moral of the story, figure out a way how to communicate through great distances without cellphones.

Living in North America, I have experienced many different types of ‘remedies’ that have been prescribed to me by a physician. I have also tried some natural remedies and I have learned much from each type of medicine.  Many of my experiences with doctors and prescription drugs have been semi-negative.

Let me clarify. For all the times that the prescription drugs did work, the side effects from those medicines were sometimes worse than the actual illness. When they didn’t work, I felt worse for taking the wrong type of medicine. I don’t know if anyone else has felt the same way, but I sometimes get the distinct feeling that doctors are always trying to rush me out of the office, and prescribe me things that I don’t really need just to get me out of there.

Now suffice it to say that western medicine does work, but only to a certain degree, and only if the patient is prescribed the correct medicine. It’s all about correct diagnosis. Too many a time have I heard stories about wrong prescriptions nearly killing the patient. This is why I have tried more eastern style medicine and natural cures.

I have tried many different natural remedies. I am a huge believer in naturopathy and organic remedies. The reason for this being the amount of damage prescription drugs can do to ones liver. There have been numerous studies where natural remedies have proven to be just as, even more effective than prescription drugs.

The end result, the way I see in anyway, is that there has to be some sort of balance. If both western and eastern medicine worked together, with natural remedies, then there could be a whole new development of medicines that would  work. If drug companies could even fathom using natural remedies with their medicines, this would be the start of something that could potentially be great.

Of course neither the FDA or Health Canada would allow this, since it would lead to a great loss of revenue, but we, as a people, need to try and experience this combination for ourselves. There are tons of websites and articles that discuss some of the same remedies that I have tried. It starts with us, and what we want for our future health.