NEW 2013: Albums to Anticipate

September 17th, 2013

Grouplove
"Spreading Rumours"

Jack Johnson
"From Here to Now to You"

MGMT
"MGMT"

Said The Whale
"Hawaii"

The Presets
"Pacifica"




September 24th, 2013 

Kings of Leon
"Mechanical Bull"

Drake
"Nothing Was the Same"

Elton John
"The Diving Board"

Icona Pop
"This is...Icona Pop"

Matthew Good
"Arrows of Desire"

Willie Nelson
"To All The Girls..."




September 30th, 2013 

Justin Timberlake
"The 20/20 Experience 2"

HAIM
"Days Are Gone"



October 1st, 2013

Amos Lee
"Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song"

Joan Jett
"Unvarnished"

Justin Timberlake
"The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2"

Lorde
"Pure Heroine"

Teen Daze
"Glacier"






Check out this website for the full list of upcoming album releases:

Metacritic - New and Upcoming Music






xx

Heartbeat to Replace Passwords

Can't remember the pin to your mastercard, VISA, debit card, Bay card, Sears card, and Optimum card? Can't, for the life of you, remember the password to your okcupid.com account? And oh my goodness, you have forgotten the card you scan to get into your office back at home. You can visualize it's exact location in your mind. If only you go back in time and pick it up...

Have no fear!!

A Canadian company by the name of Bionym has created technology that comes in the form of a black plastic bracelet, which records the unique patterns of your heartbeat and uses them as a means of verifying one's identity.

This technology is intended to replace credit card, passwords, pins, keys, retina scans, fingerprint scanners and all modes of personal verification. Instead, one wearing the device would simply wave the bracelet in front of whatever needs a code to tap into and BAM: access granted.

The science behind this is quite interesting. What Bionym did was insert an ECG sensor into the bracelet. ECGs, or electrocardiograms, measure the electric activity of the heart. Apparently, all humans create a unique rhythmic heartbeat which cannot be duplicated in another human heart. Therefore, if anyone tried wearing your bracelet in hopes of accessing your accounts, entry would be denied.

Bionym claims the use of these bracelets ensure security better than fingerprints, face and even iris scans.

"All of these are essentially on the outside of your body, can be taken by photograph," said Karl Martin, CEO of Bionym.

In case you'd like on of your own, you can pre-order a bracelet at the retail price of $80.00. It is expected to hit the market next spring.


Check out what Telegraph.UK has to say about these


Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. Please Enter.

Toronto's Initiative: Mental Health Research and Facility

As a city, we are lucky to have the finances and a health sector that is concerned with the subject of mental health as much as it is. The Harper government, for the most part, has funded the projects which tackle research in mental health for the youth and adults, and for those suffering from addictions and providing care for these patients.

I would like to take this time to acknowledge the current standing of Toronto's state-of-the-art mental health and addiction facility: CAMH.

CAMH has dedicated its legacy to ensuring the understanding and assessment of those suffering from a spectrum of differing mental disorders as well as addictions which range from substance abuse to gambling. CAMH largely provides group therapy as well as individual care for child and youth which struggle mentally. 

This summer, some time in July, a new facility was erected and completed in downtown Toronto called the Integrational Wellness Centre. It will expand the range of services and narrow in on the conditions of the mental health of children, youth and families. 

CAMH has also teamed up with Sick Kids Hospital and the University of Toronto in its efforts to proliferate mental health research. According to the CAMH website, 

"The SickKids/CAMH/U of T collaborative program will focus on three key areas:

 integrating clinical care so that young people receive enhanced evidence-based treatments; 

training future psychiatrists and mental health practitioners to help fill the gaps in service; 

and developing a specialized research program to discover answers to child and youth mental illness and addictions." 

If you are interested in the details of the different initiatives, check out CAMH's website for more information:

Collaboration: U of T, Sick Kids, CAMH

Bastille x

Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, The Arkells, Patrick Watson, The Kooks, alt-j: if any of these artists tickle that comfy little part inside your ear drum which elicits physical responses like: grinning from ear to ear, jumping, prancing, and/or being overcome by large heaps of happiness, then you want to listen to this album.




I won't even make you search for it. It's right here:

    

 Listen and enjoy (particularly to Pompeii).

x

Let's Take a Second

Modern Vampires of the City. Rolling Stone included it in their mid-year report of the Best Albums of 2013 and I felt impelled to include it in my list of blog posts seeing as it has given me the sunshine Toronto has failed to provide this summer.

I cannot get enough of Everlasting Arms and Fingerback. Here, if you haven't heard it yet listen to it here:

Vampire Weekend's 'Modern Vampires of the City' - Full Album Playlist

To be quite honest, this was my introductory album to Vampire Weekend. Not being familiar with previous works, except for a few songs like Horchata and Oxford Comma, this was a fantastic way to introduce my ears to this band. 

The vocals are quirky and playful and this is an album you can blast on a sunny day, or a rainy one (as I had during this dreadfully grey Toronto summer) to brighten up your mood. The lyrics are smart and worth a solid critical review. The instrumental accompaniment is some sort of reminiscent of the Arkells in terms of the bounce, but it's simply, more. It's layered by classical piano solos and choruses sung by choirs. 

Read what Rolling Stone had to say: 

Rolling Stone on Modern Vampires of the City