Can a Wristband Make You Run Faster?

Do Power Balance Wristbands Work? by Dominique Dawes

Power Balance

If someone told you that if you wore a special necklace, you would perform better in sports and have increased balance, strength, and flexibility, you probably wouldn't mind having your own, right? Well that's what people from Power Balance promise, along with many athletes. Shaquille O'neal, Scott Kazmir, and others give testimonials on the Power Balance website, which you can go to from the link above. They tell how much of an impact the product has had on them, and how remarkable Power Balance products have been for them. But I'm skeptical.
On the Power Balance website, they tell little of how the wristbands and pendants are made. The performance enhancers come in a few flavors: silicon, zinc, sterling silver, and neoprene. But the most curious part of these is left somewhat ambiguous. Here is the spill from the website:

"Power Balance is Performance Technology designed to work with your body’s natural energy field. Founded by athletes, Power Balance is a favorite among elite athletes for whom balance, strength and flexibility are important.

Power Balance is based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram in Power Balance is designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body." - Power Balance

Its not very specific of exactly how this hologram "resonates," and to me it sounds like the placebo effect in action. In the link at the top, there is a video and article by Dominique Dawes in which she participates in an experiment involving the wristbands. The experiment concludes with results showing the wristbands to have little/no effect.

Power Balance products seem to work for athletes according to testimonials, but I have yet to be sold on the concept of them. Although there may be a psychological impact with using them, I do not believe they have any actual physical affect on performance. And at around $30 a piece for the silicone bands, I'll save that for something more substantial.

Music: What's It Called?

The 20th century brought us many new sounds. Rock was born. Jazz thrived. Music, being such a wonderful vehicle for creativity, has given people more and more new ways of expression. Previous role models in music have set examples for us to either follow, or break. Everyone can discover new ideas on their own, too. With so many choices, you can do so much. And with so much, you need a name to label this "so much". Thus we have genres.
Genres are styles of music. Genres formerly used to be somewhat simple, but today, have evolved into something greater. Artists now each have their own unique sound; their own personality. But is it really necessary to live by genre names, dictating music by the name, and not the sound?
One word that I'm sure any music-lover predicted hearing in this article is alternative. I've heard people have a dissenting opinion over this term. Originating from the 90's Grunge-era, it was used to coin the new, different genre. When the 2000's hit, new artists and bands came with it, and they simply went on being called 'alternative'. Some people may not take a liking to the term, but if you think about it, it's not easy to name a whole style of music. Let alone music where each band could have a style of its own.
I've heard of some fairly descriptive sorts of music. Emphasis on 'descriptive'. Acid jazz, melodic death metal, euro-dance, industrial hip hop. Sounds pretty crazy, huh? Just hearing one of these labels may stave you away from music that you may (you never know...) like. And herein lies the problem. Its understandable trying to name a style of music, but nowadays its just getting too complicated. All sorts of adjectives can be added in front of "rock" or "metal", but until you listen to it, you aren't going to know exactly what it sounds like. Music is one all-time thing you should never judge by its cover. I, and I'm sure all you musicians and music aficionados out there, have had a band or artist that they listened to at first and weren't all that impressed. But after time, the music grows on you. If you shut a group out because it had an odd name, you'll never give it its chance to show you what they're about (after all, we aren't record labels.)
To anyone with interests in music, listen to the next band you hear about. Sure, they might be called something that makes you wonder where they got it from, or a name your sure they got off of the back of a cereal box, but they could be the next most-listened on your Ipod.