48 Hour Fast

So I did my fast during a 4 day camping trip to Catalina Island.  It was pretty easy not being able to use my device because I didn't have any service, and I didn't have any source of power to charge my phone so when it died it died for good.  I think of my phone as a burden sometimes because it's my only connection to the rest of the world and I have to have it with me because of work.  Not having to worry about my phone or if anyone was contacting me was really nice.  I liked not having to deal with technology for 4 days.  I was able to focus on the outdoors and doing more of what I love.  I was able to wake up and go hiking all day everyday without having to deal with phone calls and pesky text messages, or have people keep tabs on what I'm doing, where I'm doing it and who I'm with. When I got back from the trip, I started to use my phone more scarcely.  I realized that I don't need electronics in my everyday life to get the most out of each day, our phones are there for convenience and entertainment.  I don't feel like I missed out on much.  I did have to bring my regular camera for the trip to take pictures, but it was nice to turn it on, take the picture, and turn it right back off.  If I could, I would do the fast again but for a longer period of time.  I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed not having to rely or use technology.

Meal Master Audience

Andrew is a single bodybuilder in his 20's.  He lives alone and doesn't always have time between his job and working out to plan out his meals.  He would like to be able to plan out his meals a week in advance so he can spend his time focusing on other things.  With this app, he will be able to favorite recipes and decide which meal he wants to eat and when.  He will also be able to take his food inventory at home with him on the go.  If he is running late and needs to make a quick grocery run, he will be able to pull up his app and know exactly what he has and what he needs in order to plan out his meals.  

App Review

olbuappdev - November 15, 20144 stars out of 2,906 reviews

The app I chose to review is called "Movie Collection".  This application helps you to manage your movie collection. You can add movies to your database and load detailed information about each movie into your collection. The user can also view trailers and movie posters.  There is a free version and a paid version. The free version of "Movie Collection" is limited up to 40 movies.  The cost of the app is $2.30 and is transferable across devices.

When you buy the app you unlock the following features:

• detailed information about motion pictures like movie description, actors, cover, runtime, director ...
• detailed information about TV shows with season and episode support
• adding of movies/tv shows and search by title / keyword
• search a movie by scanning the barcode (fast in app barcode scanner. No other application necessary).
• add your own/private movies with self written descriptions or own covers.
• mark movies/tv show seasons as borrowed.
• Full-fledged list management
• move/copy movies between lists.
• list view and a tile view.
• customizable cover size in list view and in tile view.
• great look and feel.
• Light and Dark theme.
• different order and filter options.
• mark movies as seen with a time stamp.
• search in a list.
• Full-fledged Backup-Manager to save and to restore the database
• save backups on external storage/SD-card. Upload backups into the cloud (Dropbox/Box/Google-Drive) or share it with your friends via email etc.
• show covers/backdrops in full screen.
• jump directly to the IMDB application or the web site.
• no registration necessary.
• fully compatible to Android 3.0 "Honeycomb"

This app needs access to:
• full network access: this is necessary to load the initial movie information and to load movie posters and backdrops.
• take pictures and videos: this is necessary to scan the barcode and to capture movie covers.
• read/modify/delete contents of your USB storage: is required to store/load backup files and movie covers and backdrops.

Best Device

I chose my best new device to by the Myo Armband.  This is a gesture controld device that fits around the meaty part of your forearm and detects slight muscle movements, arm rotations and even electrical impulses as you gesture, translating all that information into real-time input. This device features bluetooth 4.0 and a new type of biosensor, which can pick up electrical impulses in our arm muscles. So long as the inner side of the Myo has skin contact you're good to go. 

The idea of Myo started in the co-founders' university days, where they explored various wearable technologies while working on a navigation aid for the blind. Lake said since brain control isn't quite there yet, his team found muscle sensing to be the next best thing. From what I saw today, Thalmic Labs seems to be on the right track. We watched co-founder Aaron Grant play Call Of Duty: Ghosts using just a pair of Myos, and he was able to make his avatar run, crouch, jump, fire weapon and reload. Lake also gave a demo on music playback control and slideshow presentation on an iPad, both of which worked just fine. But it doesn't stop there; the CEO also sees opportunity in industrial robotics, space application and even gesture-based authentication.  As production volume increases, Lake says they’ll consider adding oversees partners, but for now this is very much a homegrown affair.

Call of Duty Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o62TzZrw5s

Myo Ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWu9TFJjHaM

Thalmic Labs Website:
https://www.thalmic.com/en/myo/

The Medium is the Message is the Medium

I believe this phrase means that we need to pay more attention to what our message is going to impact, how it is going to impact us and how it is going to be delivered to us. The content of the medium is always another medium.  When new technology comes out, it changes society structurally and psychologically.  As technology progresses and changes, society changes as well.  Just think about what the radio or tv did.  And now we have the newest devices just falling onto our laps. Though the information (message) may stay the same, the way it is delivered (media) changes.