text:
So many of us take our vision for granted. We open our eyes and we are able to focus on images and see color, details and depth.
But it's not that simple. There are a number of parts of the human eye that all work in tandem to process light so that the brain can ultimately interpret it into images you'll recognize: a tree, a family member's face, your couch, or the food on your plate.
Understanding how our eyes work by learning more about the various parts of our eye can help us take better care of our all-important vision.
The Cornea
What it does:
It all starts with our cornea, the transparent dome-shaped layer at the front of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber.
The primary job of the cornea is to refract — or bend — light so that the eye can focus. Another role the cornea plays is that of protecting the eye by acting as a barrier against dirt, germs, and other foreign objects.
What can go wrong:
If your cornea is damaged in any way, whether by disease, injury or infection, it can become scarred and unable to focus the light, blocking or distorting your vision.
The Pupil
What it does:
The pupil is the black "dot" at the center of your eye. The pupil actually isn't a structure, but an opening where light enters the eye, starting the sight process. It's black because it absorbs the light that passes through and doesn't reflect that light back.
What can go wrong:
Some conditions may cause pupils to not be reactive to light and to be smaller than normal. Trauma that penetrates the iris can also cause an abnormally shaped pupil.
The Iris
What it does:
The iris is the colored part of your eye. It is a ring-shaped membrane (made of connective tissue and muscle) surrounding the pupil. Its job is to regulate the amount of light that comes into the eye via the pupil by contracting to shrink the pupil or widen it.
What can go wrong:
Trauma, inflammation, or inherited conditions can impact the iris.
The Lens
What it does:
The lens is the small, clear disk at the inner part of the eye. It works in conjunction with the cornea to focus light directly on the retina. After the light passes through the pupil, it hits the lens.
What can go wrong:
Cataracts, a painless but cloudy lens, are one of the most common things that can go wrong. They can be caused by aging, diabetes, trauma, some medications and excessive UV light exposure.
The Vitreous Humor
What it does:
This colorless, gel-like substance fills the center of the eye and helps give your eye its round shape and provides visual clarity. Light passes through it on the way to the retina. It can also act as a shock absorber in case you get hit in the head.
What can go wrong:
As part of the normal aging process, the vitreous humor can degenerate significantly and even become detached, causing flashes of light, torn blood vessels, or a retinal tear. It also decreases in viscosity and can separate from the retina, causing floaters in your vision.
The Retina
What it does:
This thin, light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye contains cells called photoreceptors (also known as rods and cones). These cells turn light into electrical impulses and send them along to the brain via the optic nerve.
What can go wrong:
There are a number of retinal diseases and conditions, including retinal tears, detachment, and diabetic retinopathy. All of these can cause disturbances in your vision and even blindness.
The Optic Nerve
What it does:
It's the optic nerve that connects the eye to the brain, and it's the brain that is responsible for interpreting the electric signals from the retina as images. Once the electrical signals leave the retina, they travel through the optic nerve via millions of tiny nerve fibers to the brain (specifically, the visual cortex).
What can go wrong:
Damage to the optic nerve can be the result of eye diseases (such as glaucoma), trauma to the eye, toxins (including tobacco and alcohol) and some genetic conditions.
Are you taking good care of all the parts of your eyes? With regular eye exams, good nutrition, exercise, and protective eyewear, you can help protect your vision and avoid vision problems. Contact us if you need an eye exam or if you've noticed any symptoms with your vision. We're here to help you keep your eyes healthy.


text:
Rent a BMW M6
Let people know who you are when you jet by in a BMW M6. Luxury and wealth combined with elegance & power.
About BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (English: Bavarian Motor Works), commonly known as BMW or BMW AG, is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. Excerpt from WikiPedia
Renting a BMW M6 is Fast & Convenient
There is no need to deny yourself what you deserve, as we make renting a luxury car easy. Just call us or use the form to the right of this page and we will follow up with you immediately to help you get any exotic car experience you desire.
4.4L V 8 DOHC with Double-VANOS variable valve timing
560 hp @ 6,000 rpm
500 ft lb of torque @ 1,500 rpm
Rental rates:
Contact us for details
Note: Rental rates can change daily and may not be updated on this page.
In addition: We are NOT just some regular run-of-the-mill exotic car rental company. We cater to the rich and famous and we can help you with ALL your luxury travel needs: flight, accommodations, experiences, dinners, etc. Professional car rentals is just one of the many services we provide for our elite clientele.
Main Rental Locations:
Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood
We Understand Your Needs!
We are used to working with prominent people who value their time. You name it, and we will get it for you! Contact us today to learn how we can make your life convenient.
How old do I have to be to rent a vehicle?
All renters must be a minimum of 25 years of age.
How are rentals priced?
All rental rates are based on a 24 hour period.
How do I make a reservation?
Call us or use the form to the right of this page.
Do you deliver cars at the airport?
Yes, We have services in all major & small airports in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and surrounding areas.
Can I rent the car for one way rental?
Yes, we offer One way rentals, which are based on the length of the rental.
Do you deliver cars at the hotels?
Yes, All major hotels from Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and surrounding areas . Upon request we can deliver to desired location depending on the length of the rental.
Can you deliver the vehicle to me?
Yes, We deliver vehicles to any location in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Hollywood. Renter must be present at the time of drop off. Proper documentation must be faxed to us prior to delivery.
We are not just an average exotic car rental service, but an exclusive concierge service that can get you access to the Most Inaccessible VIP Events & Experiences Worldwide!!
You Can Dream It, Then We Can Deliver it to You!
- Chartered jet before or after your exotic car experience?
- Impossible to get Sporting Event Box Seats, Concert Backstage Passes, Star Studded Movie Premieres, Invite Only After Parties, you name it!
- Private chartered yacht with a full crew to your choice of destination
- Not listed, Not a Problem… just call us now or fill out the form on the right

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Toshiba has developed a new image sensor for smartphones and tablets that promises better image resolution for run-of-the-mill smartphones when it goes into mass production.
The T4KA7 is a 1/2.4-inch, 20-megapixel backside illuminated sensor with a 1.12 micrometer pixel size, which provides for a smaller sensor size overall.
The sensor allows for a lower module height of under 6 millimeters compared to the current 20-megapixel, 1.2-micrometer sensors, the company said.
"T4KA7 is the first 1.12-micrometer, 20-megapixel sensor on the market with a high frame rate of 22 fps at full resolution," a Toshiba spokeswoman wrote in an email.
The frame rate is 1.8 times the speed of Toshiba's previous 20-megapixel sensor, the T4K46.
When zooming digitally, the sensor provides crisper images compared to 13- and 16-megapixel sensors, which are resolutions widely adopted in recent smartphones, she added.
Announced earlier this year, Samsung's camera-phone hybrid Galaxy K zoom has a 20.7-megapixel image sensor that is supposed to perform well when taking photos in low-light settings.
Without a specific measurement for comparison, it's hard to say whether the T4KA7 would do any better in low-light shooting situations than other sensors, the Toshiba spokeswoman said.
"We think we are providing top-class sensors in terms of pixel performance," she added.
Toshiba is producing samples of its new sensors now, with mass production of up to half a million units per month to begin in November.
Higher-end smartphones already featuring 20-megapixel cameras include the Sony Xperia Z1, the Nokia Lumia 930 and 1520.
Announced last month, the Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a camera designed for photographers -- it has a sensor with 41-megapixel resolution.


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TechRadar Verdict
An ereader that competes with Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite on design and price, if not on quality. The decent online library will keep you stacked with titles while the improved screen and backlight make for comfortable reading marathons.
- +
Bright, crisp screen
- +
Light and portable
- +
Big library of titles
- -
Touchscreen lag
- -
No microSD
- -
Questionable build quality
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Although not as well known as Amazon's all-conquering Kindle ereaders, the Nook series was the first to bring in a backlight display with the original Simple Touch GlowLight in 2012.
It was well received but, predictably, ousted in sales terms by the introduction of Amazon's own backlight-toting Kindle Paperwhite.
That hasn't stopped US bookseller Barnes & Noble, the company behind the Nook brand, from refining the Simple Touch GlowLight model with a new white design and some enhanced features.
Now known as simply the Nook GlowLight, the new model has been available in the States for some time but has finally arrived in Britain with an easy-on-the-eyes price of £89.
The design remains similar to the original Simple Touch GlowLight, opposing the blocky right angles of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Aura HD with rounded corners and a soft-touch plastic exterior.
The chassis is edged with a light grey silicon trim and the entire device feels comfortable to hold even for long periods of time.
Nook has shaved plenty of excess weight from the GlowLight in the last couple of years, slimming down to 175g from the 197g of the original Simple Touch GlowLight. As Nook is keen to point out, it's also 15% lighter than Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite.
The Nook GlowLight operates with a touchscreen so there are only two physical buttons. There's the "n" button (the Nook brand logo) on the front of the device at the base of the 6-inch e-ink screen. It acts as a universal home button while using the device and will also activate the backlight after a two second long-press.
The second physical button is a power switch found on the left edge of the device, poking through the silicone trim. A microUSB port is the only connection, found on the base of the GlowLight and acts as a charging port and a means of transferring content from or to a PC.
The touchscreen means the old page-turn buttons have been removed which, in my opinion, gives the whole exterior a sleeker and more appealing design.
The Nook GlowLight uses the .epub open standard format and won't recognise the widely popular .mobi format – meaning you won't be able to transfer any over from your PC if you have them saved locally.
It's not really a problem though as for the most part you'll be buying books, magazines and newspapers directly from the Nook store using the in-built Wi-Fi. There's no shortage either; the UK Nook store currently boasts over three million fiction and non-fiction titles as well as newspapers, comics and periodicals.
It's also worth noting that if you're currently an Amazon Kindle owner, anything you've purchased via Amazon's store won't work on the Nook, and vice versa. That's hardly a surprise, and it could make the difference between sticking with an ecosystem or making the switch.
A slight downside over the previous Nook Simple Touch GlowLight is the omission of microSD expandable storage. Instead there's 4GB of native storage with 2GB of that given over to content from the Nook store, enough for 2,000 titles.
Available to buy from various popular outlets including Asda, Sainsbury's and Currys/PC World, the different design and lower price will appeal to some, but how does the Nook GlowLight stand up when it comes to usability and performance?
Current page: IntroductionNext Page Key Features


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Top Visas
- Working Holidaymakers can now stay in Australia for a third year!There's good news for prospective Aussie Backpackers. The Australian Government has announced a number of changes...
- Wanna move 'down under'? Australia is looking for more Working Holidaymakers!The Australian Government has launched a new campaign which aims to attract more Working Holidaymakers down under, as we...
Visa First is the global specialist in visa requests. With more than 200,000 visas organized every year through Embassies around the world, Visa First is the preferred supplier of thousands of tourists and businessmen by issuing visas for all: Tourist, Civil Servants, Universities, Travel Agency and Multinational Companies.
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No matter where you want to go, Visa First will be with you from beginning to end, providing everything to make your trip, business visit, working holiday or permanent relocation abroad - a success.
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Visa First specialises in arranging business travel visas and work permits for companies and organisations. We secure visas and invitations for corporate travellers, work permits to hire foreign nationals, and intracompany transfer visas for companies transferring management and key staff between overseas offices of your organisation.
- Global visa expertise
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We organize more than 60,000 visas every year
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How Does Visa First Help You
Visa First handles the migration needs of people moving around the world for work, study or just a holiday. We prepare the legal paperwork involved in securing your immigration visa, work permit or invitation letter. Whether you are an individual travelling to Australia on a working holiday visa, a business traveller going to Russia / India / China on a business trip, or a corporate business relocating people around the world, Visa First ensures your visa documentation is in order.
Our migration agents and visa specialists work hand in hand with embassies, immigration departments and government organisations to get you where you want to go. As immigration experts, we handle the mayhem associated with getting your visa (and other documentation) in place, so you can relax and focus on the important things.
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Application with the Embassy
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Get Your Visa by Mail
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- Global visa expert – Over 1 million clients worldwide.
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More than Just a Visa Service
A good start in a new location takes more than just a visa. Have a look at our add-on Services, specifically tailored to the needs of international travellers.
Australian Bank Account / Australia
Moving to Australia? Start your new life today, with Australia's leading bank. Opening an account with the Commonwealth Bank is fast, secure and provides you with instant access to your account details. You can start transferring money to your new Australian account straightaway+ and view your balance online before you arrive, using Australia's number one online bank NetBank....
Australian Business Number (ABN) / Australia
An ABN is a unique identifier issued by the Australian Business Register. It doesn't replace the tax file number (TFN), but it is used for various tax and other business purposes (i.e. to run own business). You will need your ABN to confirm your business identity to others when ordering and invoicing, avoiding Pay as You Go (PAYG) tax on payments you receive, claim Goods and Services Tax (GST) credits, claim energy grants credits and obtain an Australian domain name....
Australian Construction Training Course / Australia
You will not be allowed work on site without this. The Construction Introduction Training Course, also known as the White Card course, is a 1 day course that must be completed in order to work at constructions sites in Australia. This course is mandatory for everyone who will carry out construction work, including construction site management and supervision, as well as anyone who would access operational construction zones. Our White card courses can be conveniently completed online and are nationally recognized....
Australian Job Service Pack / Australia
Visa First has partnered with the leading Job Search specialist in Australia who have hundreds of new backpacker and longer term vacancies weekly. You also get ongoing personal support with your job hunt and tools to build your Australian CV. Our Job Service Pack makes it easy for you to secure work quickly....
Australian Money Transfers / Australia
Visa First provides international money transfer services to its clients. This is a fast and easy way to transfer your money abroad. We provide safe transfer process and more cost efficient than a bank could provide....
Australian RSA Work Course / Australia
You cannot work in bar in without the RSA course, also known as the "Responsible Service of Alcohol" course. It is a 1 day course that must be completed in order to work in any position that involves the sale or serving of alcohol. Over 70% of working holiday makers will spend part of their year working in an environment serving alcohol (whether as a waiter or a barman)....
Australian SIM Card / Australia
An Australian Sim card allows you to be contactable by family and friends. Or start your job hunt early by including your Australian number on your CV so Australian employers can reach you even before you leave home. Instructions for unblocking your phone is also included....
Australian Tax File Number (TFN) / Australia
If you are planning to work in Australia, you will need a Tax File Number - otherwise you will pay 48% of your income on emergency tax. Its convenient and will save you time to have your tax file number set up before you arrive in Australia. We also arrange your tax reclaim when you leave Australia at a discounted rate....
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Insurance, Worldwide excl USA/Canada / Australia
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With this service you can protect yourself should your passport ever be stolen, lost or damaged and you need to get a new one issued while you are in Australia or New Zealand. In such an event, Visa First will cover the costs for your new passport. What's more, we'll also re-allocate your existing visa to your new passport free of charge! Our passport cover service is valid for the duration of your visa. Get started here...
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Transfering money to Canada can be very easy. Visa First provides fast and easy money transfer services which have better rates than most banks. Get the annual subscription and you will have an unlimited number of transfers without fees....
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New Zealand Money Transfers / New Zealand
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New Zealand SIM Card / New Zealand
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RUSSIA INVITATION LETTER / Russia
In order to travel to Russia on a holiday or to visit relatives, you'll need a valid Russian Tourist Visa. But before you can receive your visa, you'll need to apply for a Tourist Invitation Letter....
Tax Rebates for PAYE Workers who are Non-UK Nationals / United Kingdom
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text:
Fragments for the End of the Year by Jennifer K. Sweeney
Ah, but it is ending. Finally.
Fragments for the End of the Year
Jennifer K. Sweeney
On average, odd years have been the best for me.
I'm at a point where everyone I meet looks like a version
of someone I already know.
Without fail, fall makes me nostalgic for things I've never experienced.
The sky is molting. I don't know
if this is global warming or if the atmosphere is reconfiguring
itself to accommodate all the new bright suffering.
I am struck by an overwhelming need to go to Iceland.
Despite all awful variables, we are still full of ideas
as possible as unsexed fruit.
I was terribly sorry to be the one to explain to the first graders
the connection between the sunset and pollution.
On Venus you and I are not even a year old.
Then there were two skies.
The one we fly through and the one
we bury ourselves in.
I appreciate my wide beveled spatula which fulfills
the moment I realized I would grow up and own such things.
I am glad I do not yet want sexy bathroom accessories.
Such things.
In the story we were together every time.
On his wedding day, the stone in his chest
not fully melted but enough.
Sometimes I feel like there are birds flying out of me.


text:
Cover Dog: Jasper
Rescue Dog Photography, a branch of A.D.design, provides no-cost photography, along with no-to-low-cost website and graphic design services, to non-profit rescue organizations, helping good dogs find good homes.
Your 5" x 7" greeting card helps to spread the word that Rescues are Great Dogs. In honor of two incredible rescues, Charlie and Max, and the rescues you hold dear, a portion of the proceeds from your purchase will also be donated to a non-profit rescue organization.
Retail Shop? Wholesale Inquiries Welcome ~ Non-Profit Rescue? Fundraiser Inquiries Welcome ~
Fine Art Prints that Pop, of Rescue Dogs, are also available to boldly take on your wall at home, work, school, business, veterinary clinic, animal hospital, grooming salon, shelter, etc. Custom Pet Portraits – Have Your Dog Be the Star.


text:
Algorithms for automatically generating stories from machine-readable data are shaking up the news industry, not least since the Associated Press, one of the world's largest and most reputable news organizations, has started to automate the production and publication of quarterly earnings reports. Once developed, such algorithms can create thousands of routine news stories for a particular topic, usually faster, cheaper, and with fewer errors than any human journalist ever could. See the Guide to Automated Journalism for a summary of the status quo of automated news generation and a discussion of key questions potential and potential implications for journalists, news consumers, media outlets as well as society at large.
Despite its potential, the technology is in an early market phase. Automated news generation is still limited to routine and repetitive topics for which (a) clean and accurate data are available, (b) the stories merely summarize facts, and therefore (c) leave little room for uncertainty and interpretation. Popular examples include recaps of lower league sports events, financial news, crime reports or weather forecasts. For such topics, research finds little difference in people's relative perception of human-written and automated news. Also, due to the low-involvement nature of these topics, readers may be less concerned about issues regarding algorithmic transparency and accountability.
But what if the stories cover a high-involvement topic that also involves uncertainty? How do users perceive automated news for such topics and to what extent are they interested in how the underlying algorithms work?
To study these questions, two members of the PollyVote team, namely Andreas Graefe and Mario Haim, embarked on a project to study the creation and consumption of automated news for forecasts of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. That is, with funding provided by the Volkswagen Foundation, we will develop automated news based on the PollyVote data for national level forecasts. In addition, for the first time ever, we will expand the PollyVote to the state level and also generate automated news for such forecasts. This endeavor is funded by Columbia University's Tow Center for Digital Journalism.


text:
Fantagraphics and comiXology have heard your desperate pleas for more digital Love and Rockets, we know you have precious bookshelf space and move every year. In the fifth Love and Rockets book from Jaime Hernandez's Locas series, Esperanza features mores stories to thrill you.
Picking up where Book 4 Penny Century collection left off: An older and wiser Maggie faces down her demons while Ray tussles with the volatile bombshell Vivian. Taking its title from Hopey Glass's birth name, Esperanza follows the somewhat settled-down ex-punkette in her new life as a schoolteacher's assistant — which doesn't mean that her romantic travails have gotten any simpler.
Plus, Jaime on baseball comics. Not sure there's much else to tell you here. $14.99. Go get it!
"…if there's one thing Jaime's Locas stories in general, and this volume in particular, tell us, it's that sometimes you have to be a grown-up for a long time before you grow up. It's worth the work, and the wait." – Sean T. Collins, The Comics Journal
"This indie comics mainstay has been going for nearly 30 years, making Love and Rockets as intimidating to some new readers as even the densest superhero mythologies. Luckily, Fantagraphics has made the Los Bros Hernandez saga about a massive cast of startlingly lifelike characters digestible in the form of affordable reprint volumes published in chronological order." –Andy Khouri, Comics Alliance


text:
No Refunds/Exchanges:
We do not accept returns or exchanges unless the item you purchased is defective. If you receive a defective item, please open a ticket un our Swiss Bionic Tickst Support System.
Click here: http://www.swissbionic.com/support
You can send the item you consider defective to your responsible country office. Upon receipt of the returned product, we will fully examine it and notify you, within a reasonable period of time, whether you are entitled to a replacement as a result of the defect. If you are entitled to a replacement we will replace the product.
To return the defective item you purchased, please mail it to your responsible Swiss Bionic Solutions Country Office:
Shipping charges for all defective returns must be prepaid and insured by you. You are responsible for any loss or damage to hardware during shipment. We do not guarantee that we will receive your returned item.


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|With Josh Pachter and Art Taylor at Malice Domestic 2019.
Several romance writers live in the area, as do a few literary writers and poets of one type or another, but the only mystery writer living near me isn't producing much new work these days. Because I don't comprehend poetry or poets, and because literary writers don't tend to hang with us genre types, I feel as if I live in a writing desert.
So, I've little opportunity to spend time with genre writers (of any genre) other than at conventions, and only in the past few years have I had the financial resources to travel more than a few hours from home to attend Bouchercon and Malice Domestic. Prior to that I attended some regional science fiction conventions (ArmadilloCon and the now-defunct ApolloCon), Bouchercon when it came to Austin many years ago and Left Coast Crime when it came to Santa Fe several years ago.
|A gaggle of wordsmiths at Malice Domestic 2019.
I wondered if such a thing were possible in Waco, in a state where writers may live hundreds of miles apart, and Temple and I had several conversations about how we might duplicate those Christmas parties. Rather than a holiday event, when everyone is juggling family and work obligations, and rather than an evening event, which would cause guests to drive home in the wee hours of the morning, we decided to try a Saturday afternoon event in the spring.
|Texas writers crowd the Bracken/Walker living room
during the 2019 Spring Writer Gathering.
This isn't a critique group, and there's no agenda. It's just writers hanging out, talking about whatever strikes their fancies. Sometimes it's writing, but the conversation is just as likely to cover dozens of other subjects. Sometimes we sit in a large group in the living room; sometimes we break into smaller groups that drift into the kitchen or the dining room.
In doing this, my writing community is growing. Though it may never reach the size of the writing community in and around Washington, D.C., and even though our gathering may never draw the number and diversity of attendees as the Nevinses' Christmas parties, I am quite pleased with the event's success.
So, if you're a writer living within driving distance of Waco, Texas, or think you might be traveling through our area the Saturday after Mother's Day, drop me a line. Temple and I would love to have you join us next year for our annual Spring Writer Gathering.
here and receive six novellas—one each month beginning with July—and receive a special bonus story at the end of the season.


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Kelty Light Year XP 20º
Packability is what you will get with this bag. Durable, yet lightweight, Sierra Designs has created a insulated sleeping bag that is made for comfort.
Brand: Kelty
Model: Light Year XP 20º
[durable featherweight]
If you want packability above all, this is your bag. It doesn't have a gram of fat in features or material. By combining 900-fill down, vertical baffles with Insotect Flow technology (like the Marmot Plasma), a half-length zipper, and a trim fit (it's tighter than the Plasma, but not quite as small as the Mountain Hardwear Mountain Speed), Sierra Designs created a bag that had our ultralight zealots raving. "It scrunches down even smaller than my puffy jacket!" exclaimed one.
Despite the compact packed size, the bag still lofts to six inches—plenty of insulation to keep one of our editors warm into the mid- to high 20s in the central Andes. (However, some testers complained that the lack of a full draft collar made it difficult to completely seal in heat when temps dropped to frigid levels.) Testers were impressed with the comfort and durability of the 10-denier nylon shell. "It's silky smooth against the skin, keeps feathers inside where they belong, and is seemingly weightless," says one. "After rolling around on granite slabs and snoozing on coarse sand to test the fabric's durability, I have total confidence in this shell." Bummer: The zipper snagged consistently. Also, the regular length was a tight squeeze for our 5'10" tester. $499; 1 lb. 12 oz.; 15°F; sierradesigns.com– 58″ two-way locking zipper, featuring a zipper draft tube with anti-snag design.
– Sleeping pad security loops.
– internal liner loops.
– efficient form fitting hood.
– Soft Pongee lining.
– Ground level side seams prevent heat from escaping and differential cut to maximize loft and warmth.
– compression stuff sack included.
– Micro FatMan and Ribbon drawcords
– Micro captured cordlock
The Light Year series of sleeping bags are designed for the adventurous customer who enjoys heading out into the backcountry for a weekend or weeklong escape. The Light Year XP 20 is a three-season synthetic bag with a 58″ zipper that is perfect for light and fast adventures in unpredictable conditions


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Dilettante 014: Building the Low-budget World
When I was a teen comics reader in the 80s, I remember asking the owner of my local comics shop (Jeff Yandora of Phantom of the Attic in Pittsburgh) to recommend some other comics like Moore, Bissette & Totleben's Swamp Thing, Simonson's Thor, and Chaykin's American Flagg. When he asked me what I meant by that, the best I could explain was that I thought these were comics that made their own world. I wasn't talking about "world building" as it's done in science fiction. I was struggling with my limited vocabulary to identify a quality I saw all these comics as sharing—an authorial voice that made the experience of reading them unique. The manner of telling the story was inseparable from the story being told. (He recommended Love and Rockets by the way, which was definitely the right pick.)
It's 30 years later; I've been making comics professionally for 20, and I find myself facing this question from the other side: what can I do, as the middle person on the comic book assembly line, to give my readers a comparable experience, to tell stories that feel like the way they were told is the only way they could be told. (And let me get a disclaimer out of the way: throughout this essay, I'm going to be citing the work of my betters. I am absolutely not comparing myself to any of them. I'm identifying them as creators who either achieved something I aspired to do, or who did something that I then stole.)
When I accepted Marvel editor Steve Wacker's offer to draw Superior Foes of Spider-Man, all I knew was that Steve had been very easy to work with on my Hawkeye fill-in issue, and that it was "a ground-level villain book" which probably meant that the naturalistic, low-key Sickles/Mazzucchelli/Micheluzzi/Aja approach I enjoyed so much in that Hawkeye story might be a good fit for this one too. Reading Nick Spencer's pitch and partial script for the first issue confirmed this. This was a story about the problems of a bunch of unglamorous losers. So that influenced my first decision in finding the visual voice for Superior Foes. I'm going to tell this story with a restrained approach to draftsmanship that emphasizes what happens in a panel over how exciting it is. That means I'm probably not going to have much use for melodramatic Kirby/Buscema/Kane storytelling. Little if any dynamic foreshortening, very few glamorous moments of figures caught in perfect gestures. We want pathos and laughs. Most superhero comics are set up to deliver aspirational power fantasies. No one aspires to be like our leads. A lot of the fun is going to come from showing them to be completely ineffectual.
(All art examples: script by Nick Spencer, art by Steve Lieber, and color art by Rachel Rosenberg. Click on the art to see it larger on your screen and in slide show mode.)
Nick's scripts were narrated by Boomerang himself. I knew he was going to be an unreliable narrator. And from the first page, his captions were written as if he was addressing a savvy audience—savvy about fame, savvy about superheroes, maybe even savvy about the fact that this was a comic.
That made me think of the Bob Fosse production of Pippin I watched on video years ago. It was my one of my first exposures to the sort of heavily stylized storytelling that made a point of shattering the fourth wall and admitting within the story that it was a story. The costuming was anachronistic, the sets minimal and symbolic, the characters practically recited each other's descriptions from the dramatis personae. These were well-established techniques in theater, but to my inexperienced eye they seemed risky. Musicals already put the audience at a distance. It can be hard to get immersed in the stakes of a story when everyone is doing something as unnatural as breaking into song. But instead of pulling me out of the story, the self-awareness drew me in. Doing it that way is a form of flattery, really. "Look, we know you're not some gullible rube; we're not gonna try to put one over on you." It can make you feel like you're on the same side as the storyteller. Oddly enough, that's exactly the feeling that some con men try to create in the their victims. Hmm …
I wondered if I could match that approach with my pictures. That play emphasized that it was a staged musical. Maybe I could use storytelling devices that emphasize that this is a comic.
Nick's script was dense with dialogue exchanges and called for a lot of panels on the page, so I knew that various comics shorthand techniques would be doubly useful. Along with matching the tone of Nick's captions and story, they'd allow me to cram a lot of information into some very small panels. Sound effects that clarify action and provide humorous punctuation? Absolutely. Thought balloons with pictures? Sure. Diagrams? Self-conscious graphic devices like stars? Yep. Drastic style changes? Go for it. Don't worry if it might seem corny in a serious superheroic context—they work in old comic strips, and in alternative comics like those of Chris Ware and Jaime Hernandez. There's an enormous toolbox. Just pull something out and see if it works on the page.
I started blocking the pages out and I was happy that so far, they did. I shouldn't have been surprised. There's an illustration client of mine who does theatrical design: Michael Curry. If you've seen The Lion King on Broadway, you've seen his work. The most important thing I learned working for him was not to try to impress viewers with the illusion of reality. They'll get more out of a well-designed abstraction than any attempt at faking reality.
Again, this meshed well with the purely practical choices in my layouts. If every panel on a ten- panel page has a detailed background, the page could get cluttered and unpleasant to look at. If impressive panels stop the viewer's eye at the wrong time, our carefully paced gags are going to fall flat. Far better to look for places to stylize and reduce the number of elements in my settings. A few lines to depict the right detail or symbol will work better than an acre of elaborate adventure comics draftsmanship.
This dovetailed with another feeling I had about the book—it should feel "low budget." If this story was a movie, it wouldn't be The Avengers, with the spectacular effects $220 million dollars can buy. It wouldn't even be the Ocean's Eleven remake, with a gorgeous cast of glamorous A-listers. This comic is about the struggles of a broke bunch of C-list losers. Every choice I make in the art needs to support that. I can draw a slick, contemporary superhero costume, but no one in this story is going to have one. I want my cast to look uncomfortable and a little foolish in their super-suits. The characters in Superior Foes are mostly drawn to look like they'd take third place in a cosplay contest.
As the pages piled up, I found that the techniques I was using opened up new possibilities in the storytelling. Nick's script for the first issue took Boomerang from failure to success as boss of the new Sinister Six. I'd established his problems as a leader early on with this panel.
Boomerang is trying to share his plan, but everyone on his team has something else on their mind, which I showed with pictorial word balloons. At the end of the issue, Nick asked for a panel where the rest of the team is there to meet Boomerang as he gets out of prison. I realized I could do a callback to that earlier panel and describe the new status quo using the same tools as before. Everyone's still speaking in pictorial balloons, but now they show that everyone's paying attention to Boomerang. And while their individual reactions are still in character, the message is that now they're functioning like a team.
Ideally this helps unify the story and the storytelling. I want to use the tools available to me to amplify the points the story needs to make, and do so in a way that's consistent for the world Nick and I and color artist Rachelle Rosenberg are creating. And needless to say, we want to do this while telling a great story and getting big laughs from our readers.
We've been lucky to be working with the supportive editorial team of Steve Wacker and Tom Brennan, who have let us try stuff like this. If we're doing it right, maybe we can make Superior Foes of Spider-Man one of those comics I was looking for way back when- the kind that creates its own world. The first trade paperback comes out February 26; I hope you'll take a look and let me know if we succeeded.
Dilettante by Steve Lieber appears the second Tuesday of every month here on Toucan. You can find Steve on Twitter at @steve_lieber.


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Breach Gone Gold, Receives Release Date
Virtual walls everywhere will be in jeopardy on January 26, as Atomic Games today announced that its destru
Breach will cost 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15) on Xbox Live Arcade, while the PC edition will receive digital and retail releases, at $19.99.
The PC edition will boast "larger explosions, particle effects and more," courtesy of Nvidia's PhysX technology, plus support for dedicated servers with remote admin.
Breach was originally planned to launch in June 2010 but ended up delayed, giving time to create a 'Hardcore' mode "for players looking to play the way operatives train. "
As Atomic--creator of the ill-fated shooter Six Days in Fallujah--demonstrated to us last year, Breach's destructible environments are a bit different to those in other vandalism sims, such as Battlefield: Bad Company 2, as cover can be destroyed brick-by-brick. Have a gander at the new gameplay trailer below for 'splosions galore.


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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court suggested Tuesday it could find a way out of the case over California's ban on same-sex marriage without issuing a major national ruling on whether gays have a right to marry, an issue one justice described as newer than cellphones and the Internet.
Several justices, including some liberals who seemed open to gay marriage, raised doubts during a riveting 80-minute argument that the case was properly before them. And Justice Anthony Kennedy, the potentially decisive vote on a closely divided court, suggested that the court could dismiss the case with no ruling at all.
Such an outcome would almost certainly allow gay marriages to resume in California but would have no impact elsewhere.
Kennedy said he feared the court would go into "uncharted waters" if it embraced arguments advanced by gay marriage supporters. But lawyer Theodore Olson, representing two same-sex couples, said that the court similarly ventured into the unknown in 1967 when it struck down bans on interracial marriage in 16 states.
Kennedy challenged the accuracy of that comment by noting that other countries had had interracial marriages for hundreds of years.
There was no majority apparent for any particular outcome and many doubts expressed about the arguments advanced by lawyers for the opponents of gay marriage in California, by the supporters and by the Obama administration, which is in favor of same-sex marriage rights.
Kennedy made clear he did not like the rationale of the federal appeals court that struck down Proposition 8, the California ban, even though it cited earlier opinions in favor of gay rights that Kennedy wrote.
That appeals court ruling applied only to California, where same-sex couples briefly had the right to marry before voters adopted a constitutional amendment in November 2008 that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Several members of the court also were troubled by the Obama administration's main point that when states offer same-sex couples all the rights of marriage, as California and eight other states do, they also must allow marriage.
Justice Samuel Alito described gay marriage as newer than such rapidly changing technological advances as cellphones and the Internet, and appeared to advocate a more cautious approach to the issue.
"You want us to assess the effect of same-sex marriage," Alito said to Solicitor General Donald Verrilli. "It may turn out to be a good thing. It may turn out to be not a good thing."
Charles Cooper, representing the people who helped get Proposition 8 on the ballot, ran into similar resistance over his argument that the court should uphold the ban as a valid expression of the people's will and let the vigorous political debate over gay marriage continue.
Here, Kennedy suggested that Cooper's argument did not take account of the estimated 40,000 children who have same-sex parents. "The voices of these children are important, don't you think?" Kennedy said.
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Writing, Grammar, Literature, ACT Prep
Education: M.Ed.,Stanford University
Katie is an enthusiastic teacher who strives to make connections between literature and student's every day lives.
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Writing, Grammar, Literature, ACT Prep
Education: M.Ed.,Stanford University
Katie is an enthusiastic teacher who strives to make connections between literature and student's every day lives.
Essay editing has two main steps: essay editing and essay revision. Revising is when the writer examines paragraph order, adds components and/or removes large pieces of information. When revising, it is helpful to reverse outlines, check for all critical components and to use the rubric to check off the parts of the essay. Essay editing is often compared to cleaning a house.
Let's talk about editing your essay. Now I know, a lot of times you get to this editing process and it's the last thing you want to do. You've spend weeks kind of coming up with your ideas, finding your support, writing your multiple drafts, doing pure revision, all sorts of things. And now you've got to sit down and go over your essay, again when really you just want to be done with it.
But I encourage you to do two steps in the editing process, and I really talk with my students about the difference between revision and editing. We use the metaphor of a house. We say, revision is like remodelling your house. You're going to look at structure, you going to look at additions, what you can take out. Look at your support, all those different pieces, so the bigger pieces of your writing.
And then editing is more like doing a deep cleaning of your house. So you're not actually changing up the structure, or adding pieces, you're just cleaning it up and making it shine. So when you're editing your paper, you're going to look at grammar, spelling, punctuation mechanics. It's important that those two processes stay separate. You're going to want revise first and then edit, just like you would remodel your house first and then clean it. You wouldn't flip those two around.
So let's talk about some things you can do during both of those processes. The first suggestion that I have in the revision stage, is trying a reverse outline. And a reverse outline is just looking at a completed paper and creating an outline from it. So you're going to look at the paragraphs that are done, and then you're going to summarize them into one sentence. And you're going to want to make sure that that one sentence is communicating what you wanted it to communicate. You can even check it against your original outline that you have.
And the other I would recommend, is using your rubric. Going back to the assignment or whatever your grading system your teacher gave you, and going through and making sure that you have all the required pieces and that they're working together to make your point.
And then the other two steps in editing that I would recommend, is number one, read it out loud. Inevitably, when you read it out loud, you're going to catch either misspellings, or maybe words you left out, and things like that. It's a really helpful tool and then just getting multiple eyes to look on.
A lot of times we think we're being clear, or we skip over errors that we made, so giving somebody else or multiple other people to look at it, really gives us some good feedback.
So hopefully this will give you some guidance in your revision and your editing and you won't just skip over that stuff.


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Vol. 77, No. 4
Where 20,000 or 30,000 are gathered…
By Jeff Parrott
With a growing trend toward giant parishes, Catholics in super-sized communities are finding ways to avoid getting lost in the crowd.
Photo story
Though the mountains may fall
Text by Kyle T. Kramer
Photos by Paul Corbit Brown
Cheap coal is taking its toll not only on the decapitated mountains of Appalachia but on the demoralized people of the region as well.
Sounding Board
Not our cup of tea
By John Gehring
The Tea Party is serving a bitter brew for the poor, and Catholics concerned about the common good should send their regrets. In Feedback readers consider how to RSVP.
Help yourself
An interview with psychologist Robert Wicks
If you're worn out from taking care of others, it may be time to remember the second (and equally important) part of Jesus' command to love your neighbor.
(Essays, short stories, and poems are not available online.)
Did the Jesus man die?
By Brian Doyle
Good Friday tells a story that never gets old, especially when you start telling it to the very young.
I will follow him
By Emily Dagostino
It took the zeal of a newly converted husband to drag and uncommitted agnostic back to Easter faith.
Poem: Painter
By Sarah Brown Weitzman
Practicing Catholic: Be quiet
By Bryan Cones
Eight days of silence is hard for a chatterbox, sometimes it's better to let God do the talking.
Editors' Note
You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)
Signs of the Times (News)
Catholic Tastes (Humor)
Culture in Context: Music, book, and film reviews
Glad You Asked: Who decided which books made it into the Bible?
At Home with Our Faith (Family spirituality)
Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)
The Examined Life: Kids these days…
By Bryan Cones
Margin Notes: Down and out of sight
By Kevin Clarke
Culture in Context: Let them eat cupcakes
By Patrick McCormick
Testaments: Rise to the occasion
By Alice Camille


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Clean coal is an oxymoron
After Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer made a fiery speech at the Democratic Convention, some people suggested that he'd make a fine secretary of Energy, no matter who wins the election. But although Schweitzer, a Democrat, may give a good speech, his near-fanatic promotion of coal should give one pause.
The West has long suffered the consequences of being the nation's energy colony, and Schweitzer's policies after four years in office indicate he'd promote more of the same. Despite his rhetoric about "clean coal" -- an oxymoron if there ever was one -- he supports building a 19th century-style coal burning plant near Great Falls, Mont. Called the Highwood project, it would be the largest coal-fired plant built in Montana in 20 years, and it is a standard mercury-emitting, carbon-spewing coal plant -- the very sort that many states have banned. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, for example, recently vetoed two new coal-fired power plants, choosing to invest in wind energy instead.
With no plans for carbon sequestration, Highwood would produce 2.8 million tons of greenhouse gases. Global-warming experts such as NASA scientist James Hansen have called for a ban on all new coal-fired power plants as the first step. Schweitzer may have appointed a Climate Change Advisory Committee, but this is all but meaningless if he continues to promote coal as an energy source.
Schweitzer insists that Highwood will "be one of the cleanest coal plants in the country," yet he also directed his Board of Environmental Review to adopt weak mercury emissions controls for coal-fired plants. Schweitzer says that Montana needs to produce more energy, even though the state already exports 50 percent of its electricity. The governor may sound like a populist, but he continues to be beholden to King Coal.
Over the past few years, Schweitzer has toured the nation as the leading spokesperson for so-called "clean coal," appearing on HBO, ABC and 60 Minutes. His pet project is a proposed $1.5 billion synfuels (coal to liquid fuel) project in southeast Montana. Squeezing diesel out of coal is not easy: The project would require strip-mining to produce the fuel for the coal-fired power plants that would generate electricity for the coal-to-liquids refinery that, in turn, would provide the diesel for the massive stripmining project. It's endless cycle that one environmental group terms "Gov. Schweitzer's Perpetual Pollution Machine."
For every ton of coal, this process yields a mere two barrels of fuel -- and produces two tons of carbon dioxide. Even if all the carbon produced by the process was captured and sequestered underground -- a highly dubious scenario -- synfuels would still release 4-8 percent more carbon dioxide than gasoline.
The highly respected journal Scientific American points out that the massive energy required to produce gasoline or diesel from coal results in "more than twice the global warming emissions as regular gasoline and almost double those of ordinary diesel. As pundits have pointed out, driving a Prius on liquid coal makes it as dirty as a Hummer on regular gasoline."
In stark contrast to government and scientific reports that indicate the heavy environmental and economic costs of these projects, Schweitzer uses the official state Web site to promote synfuels as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly "ultra-clean coal technology." Nowhere does the governor mention that this coal will be stripmined in eastern Montana, turning productive ranches and a stunning landscape into an industrial wasteland. While Gov. Palin's mantra is "drill, drill, drill," Schweitzer's seems to be, "dig, dig, dig." Neither ends our dependence on fossil fuels.
When politicians propose mega-industrial projects of questionable public benefit, we need to stop and ask who exactly will profit from these projects. Any historical analysis of the West indicates that mineral development -- whether oil, coal, silver or copper -- provides limited returns to the place from which it was extracted. The profits quickly flow out of state, while the pollution remains – sometimes for centuries. Agriculture, on the other hand, provides long-term economic stability. Sacrificing food production for short-term energy profits benefits international energy companies. It doesn't help most of us who live in the West.
With the resurgence of the Democratic Party in the West, many Democrats are reluctant to openly criticize their leaders. Although they squirm with every mention of "clean coal," Montana Democrats remain positively giddy over the prospect of another sweeping Schweitzer victory this November against a weak Republican candidate. Unity, however, does not mean blind acceptance of misguided policies that will lead to economic and environmental disaster. Did anyone else notice that as soon as Obama said "clean coal" in his acceptance speech, half the audience sat down?
Greg Gordon is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He writes in Missoula, Montana and is a Ph.D. student in Environmental History.


text:
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text:
From an old 'In The Land of Women' Press Junket Interview
At 1:40, "She is absolutely stunningly beautiful. Another person who is such an old soul. Her voice seems to come from some place deeper and older than how she looks..."
movieweb youtube via 11Bikergirl
Meg Ryan on Kristen. "She's absolutely stunningly beautiful...an old soul." Old 'In The Land of Women' Interview
Posted by RobStenation at 12:36 PM
Labels: In The Land of Women, Kristen mentions


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During Valve's CES 2014 event last night, the company released a brochure featuring images, prices, and specificiations for 13 third-party Steam Machines. Let's take a look-see!
Tears Of The Kingdom's Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism
Update: And here's the 14th, Maingear's tiny little Spark.
Aside from Alienware, the party pooper, each of the 13 machines at the very least comes with some basic specs, giving us an idea of what to expect from these Valve-approved gaming PCs.
Some we've seen earlier today. Others we'll be getting to know more about later this evening. According to Valve's Gabe Newell, Maingear's system was too late to make the brochure, but I'm sure there will be more about that down the line.
So, what do you guys think? That certainly a bunch of PC gaming machines, right?


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All public logs
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Petzl Tactikka+ Headlamp (160 Lumens)
Product Info
Designed for activities where stealth is key (hunting, fishing, nature watching...), the TACTIKKA + headlamp offers versatile lighting: proximity or focused lighting for movement, BOOST mode for temporary access to maximum brightness (160 lumens) and red lighting. Featuring CONSTANT LIGHTING technology to ensure constant brightness over time, and a mixed beam (wide, focused or red for stealth).
Key Features
- CONSTANT LIGHTING: brightness does not decrease gradually as the batteries are drained.
- Several lighting modes suitable for different situations, from proximity lighting to rapid movement.
- BOOST mode for temporary access to maximum brightness.
- Red light combining visual comfort and stealth, red strobe light.
- Automatically switches to reserve mode when batteries are running low and then to red lighting when the batteries are nearly empty.
- Compatible with Ni-MH or lithium batteries for greater burn time.
- Easy to use:
- Push-button is easy to use, even with gloves.
- Washable headband, designed for dynamic activities (secure and absorbent).
Weight: 85 g
Technology: CONSTANT LIGHTING
Beam pattern: mixed
Energy: 3 AAA/LR03 batteries (included)
Battery compatibility: rechargeable Ni-MH and lithium
Certification(s): CE
Watertightness: IP X4 (weather resistant)
Guarantee: 3 years


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The game will, as reports had suggested, build on the play mechanics of Avalanche Software's Toy Story 3: The Video Game that offered both a campaign and Toy Box game-maker modes.
More surprising is the inclusion of a comprehensive set of 30+ Disney Infinity toy figures. These characters, which usually span different Disney franchises, work in a similar way to Skylanders figures. Place them on the Infinity Base USB peripheral, Disney's very own Portal of Power, and they provide instant access to characters in the game.
Similarly, items collected and experience gained are saved back to the toys without the need for button presses or menus. Stat upgrades and special attacks are handled differently - instead of permanently progressing characters like Skylanders, Disney Infinity uses a quick-swap mechanic accessed by physical circular tokens. Place the circular discs under the toy figure on the Infinity Base and they are granted a new power related to the Disney character featured on the disc. For example, a Finn McMissile disc would provide the ability to fire homing missiles. Up to two discs can be stacked for multiple power-ups.
Stat upgrades and special attacks are handled differently - instead of permanently progressing characters like Skylanders, Disney Infinity uses a quick-swap mechanic accessed by physical circular tokens.Although this means there is a reduced sense of progressing your toy character - something that kids quickly warmed to in Skylanders - it cleverly opens the door for these inexpensive discs to be provided in a variety of ways. Along with selling them "blind" in sealed packs like LEGO mini-figures and collectable card games, it's not a huge stretch to imagine them turning up in boxes of cereal or packets of crisps - and perhaps more healthy snack products too.
John Blackburn, founder of Avalanche Software, the game's developer, explained the different approach to upgrades: "A lot of it came down to technical reason as well as user experience. If you are connected you can save elements with your Disney ID and then it can potentially get confusing - where is my stuff really saved, on the toy or in the cloud?"
The game itself offers similar play to Toy Story 3: The Video Game. Play Set pieces are placed on the Infinity base to access various campaign modes, or players can create and share their own games with no Play Set present in the impressively fully featured Toy Box mode. A slight dampener here is that it appears that only certain figures will be able to be used in particular play sets.
Blackburn went on to tell us that the "Starter Pack offers three virtual stories, Monsters University, Pirates of the Carribbean and The Incredibles, and you get one character for each, three figures in total." The pack will also include a Play Set and Upgrade Token as well as the Infinity Base. 30+ figures will be available initially and sold separately. The toy figures can be used across different platforms, taking their experience and funds with them.
Starter Pack offers three virtual stories, Monsters University, Pirates of the Carribbean and The Incredibles, and you get one character for each, three figures in total.Blackburn also described the multiplayer experience. "Playing together was important to us, we provide two player split-screen as well as four player online in drop-in drop-out network play," he said. The inclusion of this split-screen and online multiplayer modes for both Story and Toy Box play, as well as the ability to jump, will please many players who have criticised Skylanders for lacking these features. It seems to indicate that Avalanche Software has its eye on both casual and hard-core young gamers.
Disney Infinity represents a considerable risk for Disney Interactive, which has not been profitable of late. A big part of this risk is the toy figures themselves; getting them right and triggering a collection craze will be no mean feat. But Blackburn has obviously enjoyed the process. "It's actually been really cool because we got to work with a lot of the content creators out of Disney - Pixar on Monsters University for example as well as Jerry Bruckheimer's team on Pirates."
Although less of a concern for older gamers, a big part of Skylanders' success was the willingness of children to play with the figures away from the game. Blackburn described how Avalanche tackled this. "We wanted this to be highly collectable. John Lasseter who was really one of the sponsors of this inside Disney wanted to be sure we were respecting the collector and doing right by them. We spent a lot of time on paint passes, poses and ensuring that all the characters look like they belong together while also looking like themselves."
As is normal with these sorts of announcements, it is likely that what we have seen today is just the tip of the iceberg, with more packs and characters coming soon. Keeping this flow of information both in the run up to its summer launch will be key to making Disney Infinity a success in the playground. Expect glow-in-the-dark, light-up, vibrating, edible, limited edition Disney Infinity characters to be hitting eBay before you know it. Andy Robertson produces the FamilyGamerTV YouTube channel and writes about video-games for families.