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Top 20 Places to Take Kids in the Houston Area
Winners for 2015
Houston is rich in fun events and exciting places. It was hard for our readers to choose their favorites from the hundreds of choices! The venues listed below are wildly popular with kids and families in the Houston area. But don't miss out on ALL the other wonderful places as well! Browse through our site and discover lots more to do! Plus:
Click here to VOTE NOW FOR 2016! Voting is live May 16 - June 16, 2016
1. Crocodile Encounter
Crocodile Encounter is home to the largest group of Nile crocodiles in the country. One of Houston's best kept secrets our interactive nature center brings you up close and personal to some of the most magnificent animals on the planet. A totally different wildlife experience for the whole family!
2. My Gym
My Gym has two local: locations in the Houston Area: My Gym of Katy and My Gym of The Woodlands. Their program and facility were devised to help children 6 weeks thru 13 years of age develop physically, cognitively and emotionally.
3. Splashway Family Waterpark
Splashway Family Waterpark is a true FAMILY waterpark catering to families with young children. Splashway is located in Sheridan, Texas on HWY 90-A.
4. Children's Museum of Houston
A Playground for your Mind™! The Children's Museum of Houston is packed with 14 hands-on exhibits, including the chance for kids to program robots and invent things; anchor the news; run a business; get elected as mayor; explore nanotechnology and climb a three-story tower! Plus, their Thursday Free Family Nights, Family Adventures, and membership rates make it affordable for all.
5. The Little Gym
With more than 300 locations across the globe, The Little Gym is the world's premier experiential learning and physical development center for kids ages four months through 12 years.
6. 7-Acre Wood
Come play in a 7 1/2 acre old-fashioned Family Fun Park! Visit the petting zoo, mini golf course, western play town, new play ground, giant chess and checkers, gigantic sandbox, zip line, horseshoes and much more. Healthy family fun that kids love!
7. Houston Zoo
One of Texas' best zoos is right here in Houston. Get your animal groove on exploring animal habitats, giraffe feedings, Naturally Wild Swap Shop (where you can bring in your found treasures), and Meet the Keeper talks/encounters/feedings every half hour. Their Water Play Park, Sneak Peek tours, Zoo Crew experiences, and Vet for a Day programs provide fun for toddlers to teens. Always be on top of what's happening at the Zoo: Click here to sign up for their newsletter.
8. Brazos Bend State Park
5,000-acre gem 40 miles from downtown Houston, offers a variety of activities for every age: biking, fishing, hiking, birding, camping, star-gazing, and opportunities to learn about Texas' bountiful natural history via free programs and guided hikes.
9. Conroe's Incredible Pizza
This family fun center boasts an unlimited buffet loaded with fresh pizza and much more! Private party rooms are available for hosting birthday parties and group events. With over 125 video games, plus Laser Tag, indoor Go Karts, bumper cars, mini golf, mini bowling and ice skating, the fun never stops!
10. Sugar Land Skeeters Baseball
Since 2012, the Sugar Land Skeeters have provided affordable, family-fun entertainment at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. The 360 degree ballpark includes a carousel, inflatable kids zone, splash pad, playground and much more! Nine innings of baseball just got a lot more fun. Go Skeeters!
11. Houston Museum of Natural Science
Explore the far reaches of outer space, roam with the dinosaurs, wander through Africa's Serengeti, and marvel at the world's rarest and most beautiful minerals. Discover all this and much more at one of the nation's most heavily attended museums.
12. Downtown Aquarium
That big Ferris wheel enticing you from I-45 and I-10 invites you to experience all the Downtown Aquarium has to offer. Amusement rides and carnival games thrill alongside aquarium adventures and hands-on encounters with stingrays. Sharing much more than an underwater voyage, the Aquarium boasts incredible rare white tigers which you can experience on your own by visiting the Tiger Exhibit or during a Sea Safari Camp, a Wild Dreams Overnight, or an Aquarium Birthday Party.
13. UpStage Theatre
UpStage Theatre is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and group of talented volunteers dedicated to providing the highest quality, yet affordable and family friendly theatrical experience for both the young and the young at heart.
14. Discovery Green
Variety is the best word to describe Discovery Green. From fountains, gardens, and play areas, to classes, workshops, art, and reading places the versatility of the space is phenomenal. Not to mention the festivals, signature events, and ice skating. Much of the activities are FREE, and many more are very reasonably priced. They even welcome your dog!
The Woodlands Children's Museum is a cooperative learning environment that provides children with multiethnic and multicultural experiences. - See more at: http://www.woodlandschildrensmuseum.org/about.html#sthash.2Yu1OBOq.dpuf
The Woodlands Children's Museum is a cooperative learning environment that provides children with multiethnic and multicultural experiences. - See more at: http://www.woodlandschildrensmuseum.org/about.html#sthash.2Yu1OBOq.dpuf
The Woodlands Children's Museum is a cooperative learning environment that provides children with multiethnic and multicultural experiences. - See more at: http://www.woodlandschildrensmuseum.org/about.html#sthash.2Yu1OBOq.dpuf
15. Vantage Point Farm
A family-oriented horse training & breeding farm, specializing in American Saddle Bred Horses. We offer riding & driving lessons, day camps, training, sales, showing, breeding, mare management & geriatric horse care. Visit our web site for further information: Vantage Point Farm - Welcome
16. Dewberry Farm
Fall family entertainment at its very best, just a short country drive from Houston! 30+ attractions. 10 yummy eateries. Acres and acres of fun! And then Christmas trees a little later. Dewberry Farm opens at the end of September every year and is just west of Katy, TX. Click here for directions.
17. Houston Arboretum & Nature Center
A 155-acre nature sanctuary with total of 5 miles of walking trails that wind through forest, meadow and wetland habitats.
18. Moody Gardens
The iconic three pyramids are just the tip of the iceberg at Moody Gardens. The Rainforest Pyramid®, the Aquarium Pyramid®, and the hands-on discovery museum are treasures. Add to that the 3D and 4D Theaters, Colonel Paddlewheel Boat, Palm Beach and the annual Festival of Lights, you've got a multi-day destination that kids of all ages will enjoy.
19. The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
The Pavilion features contemporary concerts and performing arts events with the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera. Mezzanine and lawn seating is free at performing arts events and include kid-friendly activities before the performances. The Children's Festival in November hosts more than 13,000 guests over two days.
20. Armand Bayou Nature Center
Preserves the wetlands prairie, forest and marsh habitats with which we have been entrusted, and provides opportunities for people to experience the Armand Bayou habitats and the importance of preserving these vanishing habitats.
Winners in Special Categories
In the second part of our survey, we asked readers to select their favorites in seven categories. Here were their choices.
Favorite Kid-Friendly Museum
Children's Museum of Houston
Favorite Nature Center
Brazos Bend State Park
Favorite Kid-Friendly Performing Arts
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Favorite Indoor Recreation Center
The Little Gym
Favorite Farm (agri-entertainment)
Dewberry Farm
Favorite Place to have Fun Outdoors
Houston Zoo
Favorite Professional Sports Team
Houston Texans
Favorite Arts Education Center
Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center
Favorite Sports Education Center
My Gym
Favorite Amusement Park
Schlitterbahn Waterpark
Favorite Festival
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
If you are not already on our weekly mailing list for our free e-newsletter, please sign up by clicking here. You'll find out everything that is happening for kids and families at these places and a lot more -- way ahead of time!
© 2015, KidsOutAndAbout.com. This information may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of KidsOutAndAbout.com.


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'Rising Tide' author to give peek into his next book
Published: Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 4:52 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 4:52 p.m.
THIBODAUX – Award-winning author John M. Barry has aimed his investigative powers on floods and flu.
Now, the writer known here for "Rising Tide" turns his meticulous attention to a new giant: faith.
The timely topic could draw a curious audience to Cherry Books in Thibodaux, where Barry plans to offer the first peek behind the scenes of his next book, tentatively titled "The Creation of the American Soul."
"That's an ambitious title," said Woody Falgoust, owner of Cherry Books. "He could do it, though. He's so detailed."
The book explores the development of the separation of church and state in 17th-century America.
Barry is set to discuss his work on the book, scheduled for release next year, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cherry Books, 1054 Canal Blvd.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Barry earned fame locally for his 1998 book "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America."
For information, call Cherry Books at 446-0182 or visit www.cherry-books.com.
For the full story, check out Sunday's print and online editions of The Courier and Monday's print and online editions of the Daily Comet.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Posted September 29, 2011 Little Mac.....from Mike Tyson's punch out. Ha. My wife's friend named their dog Link after the video game character. She asked me if there was any video game characters we could do that would be fitting. Completely forgot about Little Mac. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Coach Parking in Barcelona
Page Content
If you are looking for coach parking in Barcelona there are 4 large coach / car parks offered by BSM. The coach parks are specially adapted to accommodate for coach parking as well as accommodating for car parking.
The addresses for each coach park are given below along with a link that gives you more information on rates and exact location of the coach park.
1. García Faria - Coach Park
Situated between Carrer Josep Pla and Selva de Mar
This page has given you an outline of specially adapted car parks in Barcelona that are suitable for parking coaches. For more information on car parking in Barcelona see Related Pages below.


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Actresss Sameera Reddy Inaugurates CaratLane Jewellery in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
December 21, 2012 by: shafprince 0
Sameeera Reddy in Yellow Pink traditional Saree and short blouse for the Inauguration of a Jewllery Store in Hyderabad.
Sameera Reddy is a Bollywood and Tollywood actress who started with Maine Dil Tujhko Diya and now in Race 2, Tezz and Many more Tamil, Telugu and Malayam movies.
More Pictures @ Indian Ramp
© Copyright shafprince, All rights Reserved. Written For: Indian Ramp


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Nearly 6,000 football fans arrived at Center Grove Friday night anticipating a show.
Boy, did they get one.
In a Class 5A regional that produced a mind-numbing 992 yards of offense between the two teams, the sixth-ranked Trojans recorded a 58-34 victory against No. 3 and previously unbeaten Castle.
The victory not only qualified coach Eric Moore's program for its fourth semistate appearance in five seasons, Center Grove (12-1) now gets a shot at No. 1 Lawrence Central. The unbeaten Bears come to the Trojans' field next week with a trip to the 5A state title game at stake.
Senior halfback Conner Stapleton led the way for Center Grove, carrying the ball 18 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Fullback Lane Morris also accounted for three scores, two on runs and another through the air, to go along with 143 yards rushing.
In all, the Trojans' wing-T offense came through with 511 yards, including 175 through the air from junior quarterback Luke Calvert.
Center Grove's second-half performance defensively also played a major role in the final outcome. Castle junior quarterback Mitch Gilles, who completed 36 of 56 pass attempts for 423 yards, was limited to "only" 122 of that the final two periods.
This enabled Moore's squad to put some much-needed padding between itself and the Knights after leading 37-27 at halftime. Center Grove also benefited from the absence of 5-foot-10 Castle slot receiver Jon-Marc Anderson, who sat out the second half with a shoulder injury after the senior blur produced 12 catches for 141 yards in the first half.
A total of 670 yards were generated in the first half alone, the Trojans holding a slim 342-328 advantage despite the 6-foot-2, 202-pound Gilles completing 22 of 32 pass attempts for 301 yards.
Center Grove's numbers were far more balanced, Calvert throwing for 168 yards on 10-of-14 marksmanship compared to a ground assault that produced 174. Stapleton had 135 of those, including touchdown runs of 3 and 72 yards.
The Trojans trailed 27-22 late in the second period but took control over the final 1:50 with 15 consecutive points. Tight end Nate Wozniak hauled in his second 11-yard touchdown reception of the game before Center Grove finally managed to force a three-and-out by the Knights.
A good punt return by senior Josh Piper put the Trojans in business at the Castle 46 with 1:27 showing. Eight plays later Center Grove padded its lead, Calvert delivering a six-yard pass to fullback Lane Morris in the back of the end zone.
Center Grove closed the game the same way it closed out the opening half, with two consecutive TDs. Stapleton made it a 51-34 ballgame early in the fourth when he busted loose from 47 yards out. Fittingly, Morris followed up with a 1-yard blast with 5:00 remaining in the game.


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What is Vaporization?
Vaporization uses a controlled heat source that massages the beneficial compounds from plant materials. The key to vaporization is the temperature setting: the sweet spot is considered to fall between 350-370 F. Exposing fresh herbs or flowers to a controlled heat source results in the production of vapor which contains the beneficial compounds without the unhealthy elements found in smoke. In optimal conditions, vaporization results in no burning and no carcinogens – just flavorful vapor.
How do I register my warranty?
Registering the warranty for your new Vapir Vaporizer is EASY! Go to http://www.vapir.com/support/warranty and completely fill out the form on this page, it will ask you to upload a copy of your receipt of purchase.
Please note that if you've purchased your Vapir Vaporizer DIRECTLY from vapir.com, you are automatically registered and don't need to register again.
I ordered my products. Where are they?
You can easily track your items by logging into your Vapir.com personal account – you would have created this when you placed the order. If you decided not to create a log-in name and password at the time of your purchase, you can contact email@example.com and provide your full name and address to request the tracking number information. Also, if you provided a valid email address at the time of your order, you will be sent an email with the tracking information automatically once your purchases have been packed.
How do I change my Shipping Address if it is different than my Billing Address?
For security purposes we do not allow you to change your shipping address directly on our website, we only ship to the billing address. If you attempt to use an alternate address as your billing address, the credit card transaction will be declined. If you do need to ship to an alternative address, we can help you out. You need to either:
- Contact your bank and add your shipping address temporarily to your account and thus process your order online with your shipping address.
- Or pay online with PayPal and change your shipping address in PayPal while making sure the address listed in your PayPal payment to Vapir matches the address listed on your order.
Can I get a replacement Instruction Manual for my Vapir?
All of Vapir product manuals are available for free online, to view or download a manual please follow the below link:
Can you send me a Product Catalog?
Absolutely! We would be delighted to send you the product catalog. Just drop us an email to firstname.lastname@example.com with your full name and address. Vapir will send you out a brochure with all of our product information. In the meantime, please feel free to browse our website for more product and pricing information.
What is the minimum and maximum temperature for Vapir Vaporizers?
All of our Vapir Digital Vaporizers have a minimum temperate of 150°F and a maximum temperature of 400°F, except Vapir Rise2.0 which goes up to 420 F.
I lost a part to my Vapir Digital Vaporizer.
You can view all available accessories and parts for Vapir Vaporizers by clicking "Accessories" tab at the top menu.
If you do not see the part you are looking for, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com or call Customer service at 800-841-1022 Monday through Friday between 9.00am and 5.00pm PST. and describe which Vapir Vaporizer you have and which part you are looking for. We will do everything we can to assist you.
How do I clean my Vapir Digital Vaporizer?
1, Loosen up and remove all debris with provided wooden stick and brush.
2. Use a lightly moistened Q-tip with Rubbing Alcohol or essential oil such as lemon oil to clean the chamber (on NO2, make sure the 4 air-holes on bottom of chamber are clean and clear).
Periodically cleaning your Vaporizer unit is recommended. Lightly moisten the included Cleaning Brush or a Q-Tip with Rubbing Alcohol to clean soiled parts. Make sure the air-paths are clean and clear.
It is recommended that all removable mesh screens be replaced periodically to ensure maximum airflow and optimal performance.
How to change the screen on NO2 mouthpiece?
Turn the mesh screen holder counter clock wise to unscrew. (If stuck due to residue, soak the top in rubbing alcohol or carefully use a pair of pliers.) Once unscrewed, you can clean the screen holder with rubbing alcohol then place a new screen on and screw it back to the mouthpiece.
How often do I need to change the screens on my NO2?
When airflow is clogged.
How often should I charge the NO2 battery?
Once you charged your battery, it will last approximately 45-60 minutes (cordless) before you need to recharge.
You don't need to wait till your battery is fully dead! You can charge your unit anytime when it's not in use.
Note: Always charge the battery with side switch on!
How can you tell when the herbs are done?
When you inhale and no longer receive flavor or notice a change in flavor. Some say your finished herbs start tasting like popcorn. In addition, you can always twist the top off and look at your herbs. If the herbs have turned to a pale brown then most of the essence of your herbs have been vaporized. Use your bamboo stick to stir your herbs.
Is there any plastic in your vaporizers?
All of our products are made of high grade heat-resistant material. According to MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) Vapir Vaporizers do not release any VOC (Volatile Organic Compound), even at the highest operating temperature. We do not use glue, rather a high temperature medical grade epoxy to secure craftsmanship. The actual NO2 and Oxygen unit casing is a high-temperature Nylon-Fiberglass compound. The unit is designed to operate within this high temperature range of up to and including 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This is why you can hold the unit in your hand even at these high temperatures and feel very little – to no heat. The Herb Chamber is made out of brass (NO2 & Oxygen Mini) or stainless steel (VapirRise) and produces a very clean heat, hence there are no VOC's given off by the units at any time.
Furthermore, Vapir is committed to continuous testing of all products for quality control and to ensure that we deliver the highest quality and safest products possible to our clients. As you can see, we take the high quality of our product very seriously. Therefore, you need not worry.
I would like to get a Power Inverter for my Vapir Vaporizer and need to know what the wattage is on the unit.
The VapirRise needs a minimum power of 180 Watts for any voltage converter, whereas, the Vapir ONE minimum power is 100 Watts. The Oxygen Mini and NO2 are fit for universal voltage, therefore, you will only need a plug adaptor for these products.
What if my Vaporizer is not working properly?
Please call us Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm PST – you can reach us TOLL FREE 800.841.1022. If you cannot call, please email us at: firstname.lastname@example.com
When my order will be shipped?
Orders received before 2:00pm PST on any business day will be processed the same day but anything after won't be processed until the next business day.
Do you ship overseas?
Vapir has worldwide distribution with an ability to ship our Vaporizers and accessories worldwide. If you have specific questions about shipping times and prices, please email email@example.com with your full address and what you are planning on ordering, so that we can provide you with an accurate quote.
How long does the vapor last in the Inflation Bag?
Although it is recommended that vapor is best used right away, you can in fact cap off the bag and store it for later usage. The vapor will degrade with time and not have the same flavor or essence, so the sooner you use it the better.
I'm not sure how to use my unit and need a demonstration.
If you are new to vaporizing, I would suggest the following steps in order to use the vaporizer most effectively and efficiently. First, patience is key because vaporizing is completely different than smoking, so it will take time for your body (both mentally and physically) and your lungs to adjust to the difference…so be patient.
- Turn the unit on and set the temperature to 350-365 Degrees Fahrenheit. (if inhaling too much flavor, reduce the temperature and if not getting enough flavor, increase the temperature)
- While the Vapir is heating up, make sure to grind up your herbs as finely as possible (this is very important to ensure the hot air will pass through the herbs evenly and effectively so as to fully extract all the flavors and essences).
- Once the 350-365° Degrees Fahrenheit temperature has been reached, insert the finely ground herbs into the herb chamber, making sure not to overfill (it should only be ¾ full or less).
- Inhale very deeply and hold your breath and repeat until the flavor dissipates.
- On VapirRise Vaporizer, you can also use Balloon bags to capture your required vapor for instant use or reserving for later.
Note: Please refer to Inflation Assembly in the VapirRise manual.
I would like to buy your products from a local store. Do you have a listing for any local Vapir vendors?
We do have many local stores which carry our products throughout the world; however, we do not have a list available of any specific stores in specific locales. Alternatively, you could order from us directly as we do accept many forms of payments including: Cashier's check/money orders, personal check, credit card or Pay Pal. To order from us, you can order from the website directly, or you can call us TOLL FREE at 800.841.1022.
The second option would be to use a web search engine (such as: Google, AltaVista, Yahoo, etc.) and type in the word VAPIR along with your zip code. This should yield results within your local area of stores that may carry our line of products.
Does the Vapir Vaporizer come with a warranty if purchased elsewhere?
All Vapir Vaporizers purchased from authorized re-sellers come with a full Manufacturer's Warranty.
To view all Vapir Vaporizer's standard warranties: https://www.vapir.com/support/warranty
You can register your warranty here: https://www.vapir.com/support/warranty-registration
Can I buy an Extended Warranty for my Vapir Vaporizer?
Go here for more information on our extended warranties: https://www.vapir.com/support/warranty


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|Trad, Alpine, Grade III
|YDS: 5.9 French: 5c Ewbanks: 17 UIAA: VI ZA: 17 British: HVS 5a [details]
|Doug Byerly and Kath Pyke
|Page Views:
|Submitted By:
|paco on Jun 1, 2001 with updates from Ken Duncan
|Seasonal Closures MORE INFO >>>
|Comments on Rain Dance
|Add Comment
|Show which comments —
By J. Albers
From: Colorado
Jan 28, 2010
Anybody interested in adding a description of the climb that gives some information about the where the route goes, starts, etc.
By Ken Duncan
From: Ft Collins, CO
Aug 22, 2015
Here is a description of how we did the route using a 70m rope. Most of the pitches should go the same with a 60. Start on a ledge above the highest grassy point right of the starting slabs for Arrowplane, etc. There are great belay ledges all the way!
P1. Climb the groove and fins above to a grassy slope 5.6. Belay at the highest grassy point.
P2. Angle up and left the the top of the big, R-facing dihedral then head straight up to another large grassy ledge 5.7.
P3. Climb the groove/flake feature above to a third large, grassy ledge 5.6. Belay here or on the rock ledge down and right below the P4 crack.
P4. The money pitch. Climb the left-angling crack up the sweeping slab 5.8 at the start, then it gets easier. Continue along the crack as it arches left into the left-facing dihedral 5.9 then up to an optional belay ledge on the right. Hand traverse a flake left then climb the thin crack up to another big, grassy ledge 5.9+/10a.
P5. From the left end of the ledge, climb a short dihedral, then angle left up a grassy slope. Head back right and climb a short 5.8 chimney to a ledge. Now you have three options, a right-angling groove that heads into the dihedral 5.8, the dihedral 5.9, or the right wall 5.10a. Choose one and take it to the top.
Gear: standard rack with extra small to medium cams.


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Who We Are
Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad, a non-profit, emergency ambulance service, was incorporated in 1959 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Located in Middletown Township, it serves residents of that municipality and the neighboring Boroughs of Hulmeville, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor and Penndel - an area encompassing more than 25 square miles.
Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad continues to make great strides to remain on the leading edge of emergency medical care for the patients and communities we serve. The number of emergency requests for service continues to rise, exceeding 5,000 in 2014. The demand for our specialty Bariatric Support Unit ("BSU-168"), utilized to provide safe transport for larger patients, has far exceeded expectations, not only from our primary coverage area but from other areas of Bucks County. We are pleased to be able to provide this important mutual aid service. Our emergency medical providers continue to serve you with first-rate equipment,
and they undergo rigorous training to maintain the highest level of competency year-round.
Penndel-Middletown is also very proud of its commitment to disaster preparedness and response for this region. The Squad maintains a "Special Service" unit, which has specialty equipment for assisting firefighters and other first responders in the event of a large-scale event. Communications equipment, tents, misting devices, and other materials are stocked and maintained for immediate response in the region. The Squad also maintains a specialty trailer called a Medical Surge Equipment Cache (MSEC), which is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 's Medical Surge System . The trailer allows for a mobile hospital to be set up in any open space, such as a school or gymnasium, facilitating the rapid and immediate triage and treatment of medical and traumatic emergencies during a disaster.
The dedicated personnel of Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad take pride in following our founders' mission to care for the sick and injured in the municipalities that we serve. Our cadre of volunteer and compensated emergency medical
providers remains vigilant and prepared to provide excellent care and timely service when you need it. As you can see, in addition to essential EMS, we provide multiple specialty services that provide much-needed support to our
community in times of disaster.


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Fracking Flowback From California Oil Wells Found To Contain Dangerous Levels Of Carcinogenic and Toxic Chemicals
Mike Gaworecki | February 18, 2015
By Mike Gaworecki • Wednesday, February 18, 2015 - 09:58
Adding to the already lengthy list of reasons to be concerned about the disposal of oil industry wastewater in California, the Center for Biological Diversity says it has found dangerous levels of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and toluene in fracking flowback.
Flowback is a fluid that floats up to the surface of fracked wells that contains clays, dissolved metal ions and total dissolved solids (such as salt) in addition to chemical additives used in the fracking process.
As such, flowback is a component of oil industry wastewater, and one of the chief reasons why the wastewater must be disposed of in a very cautious manner.
In California, where the toxic and cancer-causing chemicals were found to be present in flowback by the CBD, oil industry wastewater is not, unfortunately, disposed of in a cautious manner.
The most common wastewater disposal method is to inject it underground. It was recently revealed that California regulators have allowed hundreds of injection wells to pump wastewater into aquifers protected under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Regulators also permitted thousands more wells to inject fluids from "enhanced oil recovery" techniques like acidization and cyclic steam injection into protected aquifers.


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2016 Scholarship Winners Announced
The winners of the 14th Annual Alpha One Powering Education Scholarship were recognized this week, in a ceremony that took place at Alpha One's South Portland headquarters.
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mPower Loans
Bad Credit? Maine resident? Obtain low interest loans quickly for Assistive Technology through this state bonded program.
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Are you in need of technical assistance to make your facilities and private homes accessible to all people?


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.- Father Fransiskus Madhu, a missionary of the Society of the Divine Word who was killed in April 1st in the Philippines and who was one of the youngest priests in the country, was aware of the risks of his missionary work and was willing to give his life for the Gospel, according to statements to reporters by his closest friends.
In statements to the Philippine Inquirer, Father Patrick Guru described the slain priest as an energetic man who came from Indonesia two years ago "to serve and to bring peace," and he ended up becoming a victim of the violence that has shaken the country.
Father Guru, who is also Indonesian, said, "We should condemn this killing, and all killings. It is very easy to kill and therefore we should create a peaceful atmosphere, beginning with ourselves." Father Guru said he did not know the motive behind the killing but that he was confident authorities would find those responsible.
He also said that when Father Fransiskus came to the Philippines he was very happy. "He had wanted to be a missionary and spread the Word," Father Guru recalled, noting he had learned the local dialect in less than two years and that he almost never traveled to Manila because he worked in Kalinga, where he died.
"He liked to work in that remote area," Father Guru said.
Both priests are from the Indonesian island of Flores, where the population is mostly Catholic, and for families it is a great joy that a child becomes a priest or religious.
For the Society of the Divine Word, to which both priests belong, it has been very difficult to face the death of Father Fransiskus, one of the youngest priests. "But we must accept it. We don't know when God will call us. He is the one who gave us life and the only one that can take it," Father Guru added.
"As missionaries, we are prepared to go to any place where we are sent. We are prepared not only to spread the Word of God, but also to die in a country that is not our own," he said.


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WDSU Exact Weather meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy reports that Louisiana is not in danger of being swamped by high water from the Mississippi River.
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China suspected as source of counterfeit drugs that are holding back fight against malaria in Africa
The life-saving medicine arrives on cargo trucks and in suitcases, crossing borders to be put on sale in pharmacies, shops and hospitals. There is just one problem: it isn't life-saving at all.
To look at the packaging, you would never know. It is usually a dead ringer for the real thing. Only on closer inspection will you find a watermark missing or notice the crumbling edges of a tablet that to well-trained inspectors can be the telltale signs of fakery. Even health professionals are routinely fooled.
"I have taken them myself," said Dr Mechtlida Luhaga, who has been both doctor and patient in Africa's long battle against malaria. "I took Alu and nothing happened. I had another blood test to recheck and still had the same parasites. The drugs were fake."[view whole blog post ]
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So I need some recommendations on a cloud buster. Over the past month in order:
1. Crashed at our local Norwell Circuit race, broke my frame amongst other things. This also resulted in going to the hospital and then finding out I had crashed into poison ivy (The welts are just starting to receed)
2. Received a new frame and then less then 2 weeks later had the derailleur somehow get into the spokes (I am not a moron, I work as a mechanic and I was on a flat although rough road) and subsequently destroy my entire rear wheel, derailleur and guess what? My less than 2 week old frame
3. The next day while sprinting I managed to bounce the chain off my big ring and nearly caused another solo crash (Luckily I saved it and nothing bad came of it)
4. Today on the group ride I gashed my tire.
And next week is the GMSR (Green Mountain Stage Race). My luck seems to be quite crappy, so I need to learn a few voodoo spells from you guys. I have access to a local asian supermarket so I am pretty sure I can go get some live chickens should I need to do any sacrificing.


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Receive a bracelet on orders of $ 200 and above.
$ 90.00
Unfortunately this product is currently not available.
Sweet and feminine, this romantic pair of pierced earrings features intricate, filigree hearts in rose gold PVD metal. Heart-shaped clear crystals embellish the center, adding a playful sparkle. Add the matching pendant or bracelet to complete the look.


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How InVision scaled content marketing via contributions from its community of designers.
A profile of Shawn McGillivray, a member of our Support team in Langley, British Columbia.
We spoke to content marketers at leading B2B brands to understand how they tackle SEO.
An inside look at Texas Hospital Association's website redesign, including the selection and implementation of a new Web CMS.
The five most common intranet mistakes, according to intranet expert Sam Marshall.
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In light of news reports and heightened concerns about the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, University officials are monitoring developments and preparing in case students, staff or faculty with possible exposure to the virus arrive on campus from the affected region.
No Clemson University-affiliated persons have been identified as having traveled to or from the region as of Aug. 8, and no students from the affected countries are expected to arrive on campus for the fall semester.
The current Ebola outbreak is centered in four countries in West Africa: Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ebola does not currently pose a significant risk to the United States public. No cases have been contracted in the U.S. However, the World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and called for rigorous efforts to contain and prevent further spread of the disease.
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal, disease in humans. Ebola is not a respiratory disease like the flu, so it is not transmitted through the air. Ebola virus is transmitted only through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected, symptomatic person or through exposure to contaminated objects (such as needles).
Symptoms of EVD include: fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, lack of appetite, and abnormal bleeding. Symptoms may appear between two to 21 days after exposure to Ebola virus. An individual would have to have direct contact with someone experiencing symptoms for disease transmission to occur.
Clemson University's Redfern Health Center staff are training on the signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus and will be on high alert as fall semester begins. The university's response to the Ebola threat will be guided by the recommendations of CDC and DHEC, and by ongoing developments.
Everyone arriving from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia or Nigeria should monitor their body temperature twice daily for 21 days after travel. Anyone developing a fever of greater than 38.6 degrees Celsius or 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit or experiencing additional symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.
Any Clemson University students, faculty or staff arriving from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, or Nigeria should contact the Redfern Health Center at 864-656-3571 for further guidance.
CDC recommends avoiding nonessential travel to some areas or regions where EVD transmission is occurring. Up-to-date travel notices and information on the specific countries are available here.
For more information, visit the CDC and the Redfern Health Center websites.


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Each year, thousands of unsuspecting Americans fall at home leaving many of them seriously injured and even disabled. In 2010, more than 12,800 people over age 65 died and 1.6 million were treated in emergency departments because of falls.
Falls can occur unexpectedly, even to the most sure-of-foot person. Most falls take place at home, making proactive fall prevention around the house so important. Here are some safety tips to help prevent slips, trips, and falls:
In addition to fall prevention at home, being aware of weather and terrain conditions when you venture outdoors is also important. Easy Comforts offers easy-to-handle products that can reduce hazards and aid in personal stability while away from home.
(based on 3 reviews)
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great mobility helper
By Hank
from massachusetts
About Me Midrange Shopper
Best Uses
Comments about Mobility Step:
was able to use walker with this to navigate high stair
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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Highly recommended
By Still Active
from Pasadena, MD
With two pairs of half-steps, I can with much more ease access my porch and my door, and get my rollator in and out of the house safely. Though durable, they do wear and I have recently replaced oe pair. I would not be without them.
(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)
Positive help
By Sissygoose
from Casselberry, Fl.
A high step in my garage from the utility area to floor of garage.


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Rahul Gandhi, 42-year-old scion of the all-powerful Nehru-Gandhi family, was on Saturday appointed vice-president of the Congress - a move that indicates that the party is not averse to pitting him against Narendra Modi and fielding him as its prime ministerial candidate.
The announcement marked the culmination of a well-orchestrated campaign, with younger leaders making a strong pitch for assigning a formal, more important role for him in the run-up to the chintan shivir in Jaipur.
His elevation was formalised at a meeting of the CWC which unanimously adopted a resolution in this regard moved by defence minister A. K. Antony. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also endorsed it. Rahul will address the AICC session in Jaipur on Sunday.
Janardan Dwivedi, chief spokesperson of the party, made the much-awaited announcement to reporters midway through the CWC meeting that was held on the sidelines of the party's two-day Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session). Dwivedi, however, said any election or campaign-related decisions would be taken at a later stage.
Caught unawares
Scouting for allies
For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at facebook.com/IndiaToday
For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं.


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Aid continues to pour into devastated areas of the Philippines. But Filipinos at home and abroad are criticizing their government. Plus, how the general who led the coup in Egypt has become a revered hero for many Egyptians. And, decoding a Dutch holiday tradition known as "Black Pete."
Lifestyle & Belief
PRI's The World
November 18, 2013
In northern Italy, a multi-thousand dollar piece of food can literally grow right out of the ground. These white truffles can sell for as much as $120,000 — and they're being snapped up as quickly as truffle hunters can pull them out of the ground.
Business, Finance & Economics
For years, Nick Bartman has made it his mission to stop wine counterfeiting in China. And that means drinking some nasty stuff.
Santa Claus arrived in the Netherlands over the weekend, or rather "Sinterklaas," as he's known there. He doesn't come with elves, though. Instead, he has a sidekick called "Black Pete," who wears blackface, red lipstick and a wig. For some, he's a beloved Dutch tradition. For others, "Black Pete" is just plain racist.
Arts, Culture & Media
The World Chess Championship is underway in Chennai, India. Norway's Magnus Carlsen has taken an impressive lead over local hero and reigning champion Viswanathan Anand. And in Norway, people are getting pretty stoked. So the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten has challenged the rest of the world to play Norway — all of Norway.
Global Politics
The Egyptian general who helped lead the ouster of Egypt's elected president is in a pretty sweet place for the moment - on chocolate bars. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has won the hearts and minds of at least a segment of the country's population.
Development & Education
For many Filipinos, Philippine President Benigno Aquino's visit to the typhoon-stricken city of Tacloban seems too little, too late. And the challenges to rebuilding the main staples of the economy - rice and fish - are daunting.
Science, Tech & Environment
The New York design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro have wild plans for the former site of Krushchev's Rossiya Hotel. And people familiar with New York City's High Line Park may recognize it.
Israeli-Palestinian collaboration is rare enough in the fractious Middle East. But harmony? Two pianists are showing personal peace is possible, along with world-class performance in Europe and the Middle East.
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Plateful of Beta-Carotene: A Good Thing
Beta-carotene in food is good for you, but experts say getting it via nutritional supplements can be harmful
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
Reviewed By Cynthia Haines, MD
Sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, carrots ? beta-carotene is easily identified in the rich oranges of fall vegetables -- and is certainly a good force against the evils of free radicals.
But beware of large-dose beta-carotene nutritional supplements, advise two leading scientific groups. Studies have pointed to potential problems, such as increased cancer risk.
The Mechanism
Like other antioxidants, beta-carotene has been credited as having disease-preventing powers. Antioxidants destroy harmful free radicals, a natural by-product of the body's metabolic processes.
Cigarette smoking, pollutants, and other chemicals are thought to bump up the number of free radicals, possibly causing some normal cells to turn cancerous. Beta-carotene and other antioxidants are said to "mop up" these free radicals, thus protecting cells and DNA from free-radical damage.
Exactly how beta-carotene supplements could boost cancer risk is not clearly understood. In high-dose supplements, beta-carotene is thought to "convert" from its antioxidant role; instead of destroying free radicals, it may actually increase their production.
Rulings Against Supplements
But don't get confused: Beta-carotene from food sources is outstanding for your health, Susan Taylor Mayne, PhD, professor of epidemiology and public health at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., tells WebMD.


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Mercado: "Uruguay Wine and honey" Top 5 Page for this destination Uruguay Shopping Tip by kyoub
Uruguay Shopping: 4 reviews and 8 photos
What to buy: Much to our surprise we found Uruguay wine very good. We knew about wine from Chile and Argentina but not Uruguay. That is because they only have small vineyards and they are just now starting to export their wine. The climate is perfect for growing grapes and they grow a species of tannet. Most tannet's are bended but theirs is not.
Wine is sold at most mercados
One day while shopping at the Super Mercado in the wine section, we started talking to a local. He said that he was a beekeeper and asked if we ate honey. I love honey! He happened to have some in his car and sold us a 16 oz jar for $5. It was delicious.
Miguel Backer honey is also sold in souvenir shops.
Address: Atanasio Sierra 962-Piriapolis (honey)
othercontact: email@example.com
Theme: Food and Drink
Website: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa040505.phtml
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Update Notes
Updated on: 07/09/2015
Update Notes
Updated on: 07/09/2015
Since we last visited VirtualPantyGirls...
Do you like hot babes with tight bodies? Do you like good-quality pictures? Are you a fan of sexy animated honeys who look like all they want to do is fuck? If you answer yes to any of those questions, then you're going to like what you see on Virtual Panty Girls.
The thing that I love most about animated porn is that it blurs the line between reality and fantasy. The gals on VirtualPantyGirls have a sweet, innocent look and they are wonderful to look at. They're petite, hot and are wearing fabulously sexy lingerie and panties. The animation is top-notch and fantasy babes really don't get any hotter than this.
The content is exclusive and it looks like new material continues to be added, but what's really going on is that the content is being rotated. As it stands, there are 22 animated videos that you'll find in the "non nude" and "fetish" areas. They can all be downloaded in good-quality Windows Media files. The movies are eerily realistic.
There are also 154 photo galleries that often contain high-res images. I've got to say that these computer-generated images are very impressive. Most of the chicks have big doe eyes and wonderfully petite, fuckable asses. The pictures mostly depict babes posing by themselves, but there are some that show a couple fucking and two cuties playing with each other. I even saw ones where a babe gets banged by a robot.
On top of the main material, you can also check out extras. There are some additonal vids and pics, plus you get access to a number of bonus sites, including Legwear Passion, Only Shiny, Skirts And Panties and Wet Panty Lickers. Joining the Panty Network will get you into all of these sites as well.
Virtual Panty Girls is a fun destination, but it could use more movies. Unfortunately, the amount isn't going to change much moving forward given that they look to have stopped updating with truly new content. Given that, you might only want to give the website a quick peek before moving on to something else.
* Please include a pro and a con about the site. Balance is essential in making a comment worthwhile. Scores without comments will be deleted.
* Watch out for ratings of zero and 100. In our opinion, there is no such thing as a site that is absolutely perfect or completely worthless.


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The Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign showed that there was a want for virtual reality to start making a comeback. However the other side of that equation, the ones who'd be delivering experiences through the VR platform, weren't really prepared to capitalize on that. There are numerous reasons for this but mostly it comes down to consumer VR still being a nascent industry with the proper tooling still not there to make the experience seamless. Unfortunately it's something of a chicken and egg problem: standards and tooling won't fully emerge until there's a critical mass of users and those users won't appear until those standards are in place. This is why the high price of the Oculus Rift consumer model costs far more than its sticker price.
Many looked towards the Oculus Rift as the definitive VR headset, something which Oculus has obviously taken into account when designing it. Whilst I, as an early adopter of many pieces of technology, may appreciate the no-holds-barred approach for devices like this I know this limits broader appeal. Whilst this is sometimes a good strategy in order to get your production line stood up (ala Tesla when they produced the Roadster and then the Model S) the Oculus already had that in the previous two iterations of the dev kit. I think what many were expecting then was the Model T of VR headsets and what they got instead was a Rolls Royce Phantom.
However Oculus is no longer the only name in the game anymore with both the HTC VIVE PRE and the PlayStationVR headsets scheduled to come out in the first half of this year. Both of these are targetting at much more reasonable price point, although they admit that their headsets are not as premium as the Oculus Rift is. Whilst Oculus' preorders may have surpassed their expectations I still feel that they alienated a good chunk of their market going for the price point that they did. For those who balked at the Oculus' price the other two headsets could prove to be a viable alternative and that could spell trouble for Oculus.
Whilst Oculus won't be going anywhere soon as a company (thanks entirely to the Facebook acquisition) they will likely struggle to cement their position as the market leader in the VR headset space. Indeed the higher price point, which according to Oculus is the bare minimum they can charge for it, won't come down significantly until economies of scale kick in. Lower sales volumes means that takes much longer to come into effect and, potentially, HTC and Sony could be well on their way to mass produced headsets that are a fraction the cost of the Oculus.
In the end it comes down to which of the headsets provide a "good enough" experience for the most attractive price. There will always be a market for a premium version of a product however it's rare that those models are the ones most frequently purchased. Oculus' current price point puts it out of the reach of many, a gap which HTC and Sony will rush into fill in no short order. The next year will then become a heated battle for who takes the VR crown, showing which product strategy was the right one. For now my money is on the cheaper end of the spectrum and I'm waiting to be proved wrong.
The Souls series never really appealed to me as it seems its target audience was a certain subsection of gamers who craved games that gave their player nothing and took from them everything. I didn't really fit into that mould and despite the raving reviews from my friends I couldn't bring myself to invest the time to see if there really was something to them. For some reason though Bloodborne held a mild level of intrigue for me, probably because I didn't know it was made by the same developer. After many weeks of being told I needed to play this game I eventually relented and began my journey into the world of a genre that I'd held at arms length for many years. Now here I am, some 35 hours of game time later, and I'm wondering why I held out for so long.
It is the night of the hunt, a time when beasts and monsters roam the streets of Yharnam and terrorized the populace to no end. You are a hunter, well at least you're told you are, sworn ally of the healing church whose duty it is to rid the streets of these foul creatures and bring about the morning. However the plague that has befallen Yharnam is not all that it first seems and it citizens ruthlessly attack you on site, saying that you're cursed. Oh dear hunter, the challenges that lie ahead are sure to break you but do not fear; death is just another part of life here, one you will become intimately familiar with.
I'm not sure if it's the drab colour pallette or gothic aesthetic but Bloodborne doesn't really look like a current generation game on first pass. The combination of muted colours and strategic use of specularity certainly feel like a lot of previous generation games that came before it although there are the moments where Bloodborne does provide a visual experience I have come to expect. I think partly this is for performance reasons as Bloodborne is the first PS4 game I've played that's visibly chugged during several very intense action scenes. Overall it doesn't look bad, maybe just a little on the dated side, something which could almost be wholly attributed to its visual style which is reminiscent of previous generation games.
Bloodborne is being called an action RPG, which would put it in the same category as games like Dragon Age, but it feels like these kinds of games need their own sub-genre to more accurately define the game experience. The base elements of an action RPG are there: real time combat, levelling system and item progression, but the way the game actually plays is so far removed from other titles in the genre means the experience is vastly different. The combat relies on precise timings, reactions and understanding your enemy at a much deeper level than traditional RPGs would ask you to. Player skill plays just as much of a role as items and levels do as you can have all the gear and in the world yet still find yourself pinned to a wall by a couple choice enemies. It's a genre that, to be frank, is actively hostile towards the player which is what makes it so rewarding when you finally get to say fuck you and beat it.
At first the combat seems relatively straightforward: enemies telegraph their moves widely and it's up to you to figure out if you can interrupt them with your own or if you need to get out of the way before they hit you. The challenge then comes from knowing what moves an enemy can do, what the timings of those are and, should there be more than one of them, which one you should deal with first before trying to move onto another. This means that every new area you come into is a minefield of new movesets, abilities and strengths/weaknesses which have to be learnt, understood and exploited in order for you to be able to progress. It's not so much of a learning curve as it is a learning brick wall, one the game is specifically designed around to make your life hell for the first couple hours.
Indeed the very first section of the game, the one where you need to complete a loop to unlock your first shortcut and start making meaningful progress in the game, took me a grand total of 3 hours to complete. That section. played properly, can be done in approximately 10 minutes and so I spent much of my time dying in numerous stupid and, what seemed at the time, unpredictable ways. Of course the more I died the more I began to understand the mechanics I was playing with, what I could get away with and how I should approach everything to make sure I had the best chances of surviving. Eventually, after butting my head against what felt like an impenetrable wall for far too long, I finally made it through to my first shortcut and that's when the game started getting interesting.
You see Bloodborne, and all games that preceded it, revel in the idea of not holding your hand at all with the only tutorial coming in the form of a few notes scattered across the ground in your overworld area. How levels work, what the currencies are and what they mean, how you upgrade your weapons and how you can unlock other ways to improve your character are all things you have to discover incidentally or, like I did, Google furiously. It might surprise you to learn that I don't count this as a negative of Bloodborne as many games I've played take a similar approach and the flip side to it seems to be that great communities are born out of sharing details like this. Once I had gotten to my first "safe" point I started to become intrigued about where I should go next and all roads pointed towards the first boss: The Cleric beast.
The boss battles are the ultimate goal for any hunter in Bloodborne both for their challenge and progression that they will provide you. They are, put simply, a terrifying thing to behold as they're often several times your size and have attack patterns unlikely anything else you've seen before. For the most part you'll be able to figure out what approach best suits you after a couple runs however there are some fights which will either require you to up your skill significantly or, and this can be heartbreaking, leave the fight and go and level up some more before you face them. Indeed after throwing my body at Martyr Logarius for hours on end I was forced to leave the battle to replenish my stocks of blood vials, something that made me feel so defeated that I considered just giving up then and there. I didn't come back to that fight for a very long time but when I did the satisfaction I got from handing his ass to him is something few games have been able to give me.
The level system, whilst retaining the obtuse nature of the rest of the game, is one that requires you to balance all your requirements against each other. Being a jack of all trades will make the game incredibly difficult and will ultimately net you no benefits so you have to choose a few stats you want to excel in and then seek out the items that best suits that. Reading through some guides will help you make the right decisions early on to support the kind of playstyle you want to pursue, especially when it comes to points of diminishing returns, soft caps and hard caps on benefits that each point gives you. My Strength/Skill build seemed to work out quite well for the way I wanted to play the game and after I finished my initial playthrough I was able to start looking at dumping points into other stats to unlock certain choice weapons that I wanted to experiment with.
Bloodborne is mechanically sound for the most part however the hit detection they use does have its limits and sometimes its behaviour can be completely out of line with what you expect. I had numerous times when my sword went right through an enemy and failed to connect (no blood, sound nor enemy taking damage) and other times when enemies appeared to be able to hit me when their models were no where near me. Whilst death is an integral part of the game when they're not the result of you getting greedy or stupid it does little to endear the game to you and indeed I stopped playing when these sorts of things happened too often. There was also the few performance slow downs I mentioned previously which were thankfully rare however in a game where timing and precision are key these sorts of things can be devastating if they happen at the wrong moment.
Bloodborne's story is interesting although the way it's presented, through various small bits of dialogue and vague allusions to things, makes it hard to discern whether or not it's actually a good story. Sure you have enough to understand the motivations of certain characters but much of the lore behind the beasts, bosses and other NPCs are mostly built up out of conjecture. Sure this provides a healthy amount of discussion among the community however after reading the 100th fan theory about why the Great Ones can't have kids you start to want a little bit more than just what everyone thinks it might be. Unfortunately it seems like closure isn't something the developers of Bloodborne are interested in giving us so I'll just have to say that the story is serviceable but far too vague to be much more than that.
Bloodborne is a game I honestly didn't want to like when I started out playing it and indeed I was willing to give up very early on in the piece just so I could be done with it. However once Bloodborne got its hooks into me I couldn't help but be intrigued as the game taunted me with ever greater challenges and the prospect of even better loot. I can remember clearly the point at which I transitioned from the terrified hunter, one who would walk around every corner, to the slayer of the night, one who feared no beast and laid waste to anyone who dared cross him. There are few games that can take you on a journey like that and make your progress feel meaningful but Bloodborne does it beautifully, all the while gnawing away in the back of your head that it could all come to a crashing end if you let your hubris get the better of you. If you've been putting off playing this style of game because it seems too harsh then I'd encourage you to give Bloodborne a few hours of your time as that frustration could soon turn into obsession, one that will be rewarded handsomely.
Rating: 9.25/10
Bloodborne is available on PlayStation4 right now for $99.95. Total play time was approximately 35 hours reaching NG+.
My stance on game streaming services has been well known for some time now but for the uninitiated let me sum it up for you: I think they're rubbish. The investment in capital required to get them to work well at scale seems incompatible with the number of potential users who'd want such a service and nearly all offerings in this space priced the games similarly to their full blooded, non-streamed cousins. Sony doesn't share my view on this however having invested several hundred million dollars into buying game streaming service Gaikai and committing to providing a sort-of backwards compatibility service using that platform. Since I wasn't entirely interested in the idea I hadn't looked into it much further but at a tech level it's quite interesting, even if I think the service won't be the cash cow I'm sure Sony thinks it'll be.
I've mentioned in the past that there weren't too many ways for backwards compatibility to make it's way onto current generation consoles even if some form of streaming service was going to be offered. I postulated around the potential ways of doing it, either by running a whole bunch of old consoles in a data center or developing an emulation framework, neither of which I felt was going to be particularly scalable due to my percieved lack of demand for the service. As it turns out Sony has gone with the former option for their streaming service, opting to run a bunch of PlayStation3s in the cloud and providing access to them through their new PlayStation Now service. However they're not consoles as you'd recognise them, they're in fact all new hardware.
Sony has developed a custom motherboard that contains on it 8 PlayStation3 chips allowing them to achieve a pretty incredible amount of density when compared to simply racking consumer units. Some back of the napkin calculations puts this at about 384 PlayStation 3s per rack, quite a decent number although I'm sure the cost of that hardware is going to be non-trivial. This custom solution does have its benefits though like them being able to throw in a new network interface and hardware video encoder, reducing the latency between the customer and their PlayStation3 in the cloud. This might not be enough to make the service feasible but it'll do a lot to make the majority of games on their far more playable than they would be otherwise.
Right now the service offers up about 200 titles for individual rent or an all you can eat subscription that has a selection of 100 titles for $15 per month at the cheapest option. That's a damn sight better than pretty much every other game streaming service I've seen before but it still suffers from the same restricted availability (only select US and Canada areas currently) issues which hamstrung other services. The one thing the service does have going for it though is the veritable cornucopia of devices that PlayStation Now can run on, including Sony's recent range of TVs and even DVD players. That's definitely an advantage that other competitors didn't have since they all required another hardware purchase but I'm still not sure there'll be enough demand even if the barrier to entry is low for Sony's more loyal customers.
With the average cost of producing a PS3 apparently down around the $280 mark (which I'll assume is relatively similar for the custom solution) it will take Sony around 18 months to recoup the costs invested in hardware based on the current subscription fees which doesn't take into account the licensing arrangements for streaming. There's potential for them to make up a bit more margin with the single rentals which appear to be quite a bit more pricey but it still seems like a long time for the investment to pay off. That being said with the life of consoles now getting dangerously close to 10 years there's potential for it to work but I still think it's a bit of a gamble on the part of Sony.
Ever since the Nintendo Wii was released back in 2006 there seems to have been a resurgence in non-standard peripherals for consoles although most are simply motion based controllers in a fancy case. The issue with non-standard hardware was, and still is, that game developers can't rely on a consumer having it and thus many choose to simply not use them. It's for this (and other) reasons that Donkey Kong 64 had to include the Expansion Pak as their game was inoperable without it and its distribution in the market place could not be relied on. However it seems that manufacturing costs have become cheap enough to make custom peripherals like this viable and thus they have returned in greater numbers than ever before.
The big issue I see with things like this is that once a good idea comes along it's guaranteed that there will be a lot of copy cat ideas that come out not too long after. In the absence of any interface standards governing their interactions with the consoles this inevitably turns into an arms race of who can win the most support from developers, most often ending in a duopoly of two competing standards that will likely never completely agree with one another. Whilst I'm all for competition in the consumer space I'm also for an open set of standards so that I'm not forced to choose between two functionally equivalent products based on who or what they support.
Which is why Sony's announcement today of Project Morpheus, their virtual reality headset, is slightly troubling to me.
Since it's still in the prototype phase details are pretty scant on what its specifications will be but it's apparently rocking a 1080p display (I'm guessing there's 2 of them in there) and can apparently do full 360 degree tracking. Predictably the motion tracking relies on the PlayStation Eye accessory indicating that it's probably got most of the same technology in it that the DualShock4/PlayStation Move controllers do. There doesn't appear to be any headphones built into it but if it's got all the same core bits and pieces as a regular PlayStation controller than I'm sure there'll be a headphone port on it. Essentially it looks like the Oculus Rift did way back when it first debuted on Kickstarter, albeit far more reliant on Sony technology than their product will ever be.
Therein lies the crux of the issue with peripherals of this nature. Sure they add functionality and experiences that would be otherwise impossible to accomplish on the platform by their own but when they're built like Sony's, reliant on a whole bunch of things that are only available on that platform, I almost immediately lose interest. As someone who plays across multiple platforms in the space of a year the last thing I want to do is flood my living room with all sorts of one shot peripherals that have no use outside a couple narrow scenarios. Instead I'd prefer one that works across a multitude, something which is technically possible (I won't tell you how much research I did into finding a cross platform compatible arcade stick for the fighting games I play) but rarely occurs in the wild.
What I'm really getting at here is that whilst I'm super excited for these kinds of virtual reality devices to become commonplace I also want a set of open standards so that when you buy one you'll be able to use it pretty much everywhere. Oculus Rift has a big head start on everyone in this regard so I really hope that they've seen this problem on the horizon and are working towards a solution for it. With something like that in place companies could then focus on making the better headsets rather than trying to coax everyone into their ecosystem. It's probably a pipe dream, I know, but it would be to the benefit of everyone if it happened.
Us gamers tend to be hoarders when it comes to our game collections with many of us amassing huge stashes of titles on our platforms of choice. My steam library alone blew past 300 titles some time ago and anyone visiting my house will see the dozens of game boxes littering every corner of the house. There's something of a sunk cost in all this and it's why the idea of being able to play them on a current generation system is always attractive to people like me: we like to go back sometimes and play through games of our past. Whilst my platform of choice rarely suffers from this (PCs are the kings of backwards compatibility) my large console collection is in varying states of being able to play my library of titles and, if I'm honest, I don't think it's ever going to get better.
Just for the sake of example let's have a look at the 3 consoles that are currently sitting next to my TV:
For the current kings of the console market the decision to do away with backwards compatibility has been something of a sore spot for many gamers. Whilst the numbers show that most people buy new consoles to play the new games on them¹ there's a non-zero number who get a lot of enjoyment out of their current gen titles. Indeed I probably would've actually used my PlayStation4 for gaming if it had some modicum of backwards compatibility as right now there aren't any compelling titles for it. This doesn't seem to have been much of a hinderance to adoption of the now current gen platforms however.
There does seem to be a lot of faith being poured into the idea that backwards compatibility will come eventually through cloud services, of which only Sony has committed to developing. The idea is attractive, mainly because it then enables you to play any time you want from a multitude of devices, however, as I've stated in the past, the feasibility of such an idea isn't great, especially if it relies on server hardware needing to be in many disparate locations around the world to make the service viable. Whilst both Sony and Microsoft have the capital to make this happen (and indeed Sony has a head start on it thanks to the Gaikai acquisition) the issues I previously mentioned are only compounded when it comes to providing a cloud based service with console games.
The easiest way of achieving this is to just run a bunch of the old consoles in a server environment and allow users to connect directly to them. This has the advantage of being cheaper from a capital point of view as I'm sure both Sony and Microsoft have untold hordes of old consoles to take advantage of, however the service would be inherently unscalable and, past a certain point, unmaintable. The better solution is to emulate the console in software which would allow you to run it on whatever hardware you wanted but this brings with it challenges I'm not sure even Microsoft or Sony are capable of solving.
You see whilst the hardware of the past generation consoles is rather long in the tooth emulating it in software is nigh on impossible. Whilst there's some experimental efforts by the emulation community to do this none of them have produced anything capable of running even the most basic titles. Indeed even with access to the full schematics of the hardware recreating them in software would be a herculean effort, especially for Sony who's Cell processor is a nightmare architecturally speaking.
There's also the possibility that Sony has had the Gaikai team working on a Cell to x86 transition library which could make the entire PlayStation3 library available without too much hassle although there would likely be a heavy trade off in performance. In all honesty that's probably the most feasible solution as it'd allow them to run the titles on commodity hardware but you'd still have the problems of scaling out the service that I've touched on in previous posts.
Whatever ends up happening we're not going to hear much more about it until sometime next year and it'll be a while after that before we can get our hands on it (my money is on 2016 for Australia). If you're sitting on a trove of old titles and hoping that the next gen will allow you to play them I wouldn't hold your breath as its much more likely that it'll be extremely limited, likely requiring an additional cost on top of your PlayStation Plus membership. That's even if it works as everyone speculating it will as I can see it easily turning out to be something else entirely.
¹ I can't seem to find a source for this but back when the PlayStation3 Slim was announced (having that capability removed) I can remember a Sony executive saying something to this effect. It was probably a combination of factors that led up to him saying that though as around that time the PlayStation2 Slim was still being manufactured and was retailing for AUD$100, so it was highly likely that anyone who had the cash to splurge on a PlayStation3 likely owned a PlayStation2.
In the general computing game you'd be forgiven for thinking there's 2 rivals locked in a contest for dominance. Sure there's 2 major players, Intel and AMD, and whilst they are direct competitors with each other there's no denying the fact that Intel is the Goliath to AMD's David, trouncing them in almost every way possible. Of course if you're looking to build a budget PC you really can't go past AMD's processors as they provide an incredible amount of value for the asking price but there's no denying that Intel has been the reigning performance and market champion for the better part of a decade now. However the next generation of consoles have proved to be something of a coup for AMD and it could be the beginnings of a new era for the beleaguered chip company.
Both of the next generation consoles, the PlayStation 4 and XboxOne, both utilize an almost identical AMD Jaguar chip under the hood. The reasons for choosing it seem to align with Sony's previous architectural idea for Cell (I.E. having lots of cores working in parallel rather than fewer working faster) and AMD is the king of cramming more cores into a single consumer chip. Although the reasons for going for AMD over Intel likely stem from the fact that Intel isn't too crazy about doing custom hardware and the requirements that Sony and Microsoft had for their own versions of Jaguar could simply not be accommodated. Considering how big the console market is this would seem like something of a misstep by Intel, especially judging by the PlayStation4's day one sales figures.
If you hadn't heard the PlayStation 4 managed to move an incredible 1 million consoles on its first day of launch and that was limited to the USA. The Nintendo Wii by comparison took about a week to move 400,000 consoles and it even had a global launch window to beef up the sales. Whether the trend will continue or not considering that the XboxOne just got released yesterday is something we'll have to wait to see but regardless every one of those consoles being purchased now contains in it an AMD CPU and they're walking away with a healthy chunk of change from each one.
To put it in perspective out of every PlayStation 4 sale (and by extension every XboxOne as well) AMD is taking away a healthy $100 which means that in that one day of sales AMD generated some $100 million for itself. For a company who's annual revenue is around the $1.5 billion mark this is a huge deal and if the XboxOne launch is even half that AMD could have seen $150 million in the space of a week. If the previous console generations were anything to go by (roughly 160 million consoles between Sony and Microsoft) AMD is looking at a revenue steam of some $1.6 billion over the next 8 years, a 13% increase to their bottom line. Whilst it's still a far cry from the kinds of revenue that Intel sees on a monthly basis it's a huge win for AMD and something they will hopefully be able to use to leverage themselves more in other markets.
Whilst I may have handed in my AMD fanboy badge after many deliriously happy years with my watercooled XP1800+ I still think they're a brilliant chip company and their inclusion in both next generation consoles shows that the industry giants think the same way. The console market might not be as big as the consumer desktop space nor as lucrative as the high end server market but getting their chips onto both sides of the war is a major coup for them. Hopefully this will give AMD the push they need to start muscling in on Intel's turf again as whilst I love their chips I love robust competition between giants a lot more.
It's been a rough few months for Microsoft's gaming division with them copping flak from every angle about nearly all aspects of their next generation console, the Xbox One. I've tried to remain mostly neutral on the whole ordeal as I had originally put myself down for both consoles when they both released but that changed when I couldn't find a compelling reason to get both. Since then Microsoft has tried to win back the gamers it alienated with its initial announcements although it was clear that the damage was done in that respect and all this did was helped to keep the loyalists happy with a choice they were never going to make. Since then it's been all quiet from Microsoft, perhaps in the hopes that silence would do more to help than anything else they could say at this point.
However a recent announcement from Microsoft has revealed that not only will Microsoft be allowing independent developers to self-publish on the Xbox One platform they'll also be able to use a retail kit as a debug unit. Considering that traditionally development kits were on the order of a couple of thousand dollars (the PlayStation3 one was probably the most expensive I ever heard of at $20,000 on release day) this announcement is something of a boon for indie developers as those looking to do cross platform releases now don't have spend a significant chunk of change in order to develop on Microsoft's console. On the surface that would seem to be a one up on Nintendo and Sony but as it turns out Microsoft isn't doing something truly notable with this announcement, they're just playing catch up yet again.
Sony announced at E3 that they'd allow indie developers to self publish on the PlayStation4 however you'll still need to get your hands on a development kit if you want to test your titles properly. This presents a barrier of course, especially if they retain the astronomical release day price (I wouldn't expect that though), however Sony has a DevKit Loaner program which provides free development kits to studios who need them. They also have a whole bunch of other benefits for devs signing up to their program which would seem to knock out some of the more significant barriers to entry. I'll be honest when I first started writing this I didn't think Sony had any of this so it's a real surprise that they've become this welcoming to indie developers.
Similarly Nintendo has a pretty similar level of offerings for indies although it wasn't always that way. Updates are done for free and the review process, whilst still mandatory, is apparently a lot faster than other platforms. Additionally if you get into their program (which has requirements that I could probably meet, seriously) you'll also find yourself with a copy of Unity 4 Pro at no extra charge which allows you to develop titles for multiple platforms simultaneously. Sure this might not be enough to convince a developer to go full tilt on a WiiU exclusive but those considering a multiplatform release after seeing some success on one might give it another look after seeing what Nintendo has to offer.
Probably the real kicker, at least for us Australians, is even despite the fact that indies will be able to self publish on the new platform after testing on retail consoles we still won't be able to see them thanks to our lack of XBLIG. Microsoft are currently not taking a decisive stand on whether this will change or not (it seems most of the big reveals they want to make will be at Gamescon next month) but the smart money is on no, mostly due to the rather large fees required to get a game classified in Australia. This was supposed to be mitigated somewhat by co-regulation by the industry as part of the R18+ classification reforms and it has, to some extent, although it seems to be aimed at larger enterprises currently as I couldn't find any fee for service assessors (there was a few jobs up on Seek for some though, weird). Whilst I'm sure that wouldn't stop Australian indie devs from having a crack at the Xbox One I'm sure it'd be a turn off for some as who doesn't to see their work in their own country?
I'm getting the feeling that Microsoft has a couple aces up its sleeve for Gamescon so I'll hold back on beating the already very dead horse and instead say I'm interested to see what they have to say. I don't think there's anything at this point that would convince me to get one but I'm still leagues away from writing it off as a dead platform. Right now the ball is in Microsoft's court and they've got a helluva lot of work to do if they want their next gen's launch day to look as good as Sony's.
When was the last time you picked up a compact camera? I've got one sitting in my drawer beside me (the Sony DSC-HX5V that I reviewed all those years ago) and it's been there for the better part of 2 years, not seeing the light of day. I'd hazard a guess that everyone has at least one digital camera lying around their house somewhere that simply doesn't get used anymore and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why. When the picture quality of your smartphone is comparable to your pocket cam there's really no reason to bring it along, even more so when your smartphone has all those convenient options for sharing them instantly. With that in mind it seems a little odd that the major camera manufacturers still bother making them as it seems clear where the future of that segment is.
Indeed if you check out the recent financial results of both Canon and Nikon they both cite the lagging sales in compacts as a contributing factor to their recent decline in sales and profit. It's not just isolated to them either, pretty much everyone in the camera business has been hurting recently and it seems to be all directly related to their continued presence in the compact market. Now I'm not saying that this market needs to disappear completely, there's still people out there to sell them too, however when your bottom line is having an axe taken to it because of one particular product line it's time to rethink your presence there. Indeed when the major player's interchangeable lens system cameras are doing so well in comparison it seems inevitable that this is the direction they should take, although some would think otherwise.
Nikon's president Makoto Kimura doesn't want to abandon this sector and instead wants to "change the concept of cameras", potentially with a non-camera device. As some analysts have picked up on this sounds an awful lot like they might be trying to enter into the smartphone market somehow but in all honesty that's the last thing they should be doing. If Nokia's attempt at bringing better camera technology to the mobile platform is anything to go by then I can't imagine Nikon's going much better, especially considering the luke warm reception their Android based pocket cam received. It would be far, far better for them to simply drop the whole sector together and then refocus their efforts on further improving their mirrorless and DSLR ranges which will always have a strong market behind them.
I'm not advocating that they just straight up stop making them, there's still a bit of money to be made here, but it's obvious that even super cheap compacts aren't enough to pull consumers away from their smartphones. Instead they should gradually taper away their involvement in the area, reducing the number of models they produce significantly. It's very possible that there's a sustainable niche in there somewhere which could support a couple models and reducing the available product lines would show that. If they became unsustainable then it'd be time to drop that area completely and then put those resources to use in their other imaging sections. There's also the possibility of licensing out their technology to smartphone manufacturers in order to get at some of the action that they're currently missing out on although whether any of their tech is applicable is an engineering question I can't answer.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing for compact makers, all it means is that part of their market has been eaten away by technological advancements in other fields and it's time for them to adapt. I think they're all well placed to whether this change as their businesses outside their compact range are all strong, even growing in most cases. Whilst the loss of the compact sector won't necessarily mean a boost to the DSLR/mirrorless sector it will mean they're spending less money on a shrinking sector, something which seems like smart business sense. Hopefully they take this path sooner rather than later as I'd hate to see my favorite camera manufacturer suffer unduly because of it.
There was an awful lot of noise last month around the whole XboxOne DRM/features/whatever debacle that ended up with Microsoft doing a 180 on their often-on DRM stance. Ostensibly it was reactionary due to the amount of praise that Sony was getting at Microsoft's expense, even though they'd managed to hold fast during the initial PR stampede. There were a few though, certainly not the majority but a non-zero amount, who lamented this change by Microsoft, saying that they had capitulated to the crowd and were essentially keeping gaming services in the dark ages. There's a little meat to this story as the removal of the daily check-in requirement meant that some of the features that came along with it had to go away. Initially the things people were talking about didn't require a daily check-in to achieve (like worlds that "live on" between game sessions, I think Animal Crossing had that covered pretty well) but there was one that was so revolutionary that I thought people were just making it up.
That was the ability to sell your digital only games.
Now as someone who's got a massive library of these kinds of games on Steam (last count was in the realm of 300+) the ability to sell, or even just transfer, these games would be a pretty great feature. It's possible that residents of EU countries might end up getting this by default thanks to a 2012 CURIA ruling but the idea that this could come to the XboxOne, regardless of territory, would be very appealing to a lot of gamers. The often on check is then required to make sure you haven't sold the game through one channel and then continue to play it offline, which makes some sense in context, although I'd argue that the number of people who'd do such things would be in the minority (and you could just check whenever they did eventually get online anyway). However all that still has the one enormous caveat that I think was the crux of the issue for everyone: you have to rely on a service that may or may not be there in the future.
"Ah ha", I hear you say, "but that's the same for Steam and everyone just accepts it there!" and you're right, to a point. That was probably the biggest thing that Steam had going against it at the time as PC gamers were most certainly not welcoming of it, I know I certainly wasn't. However once the value proposition became very attractive, mostly through the sales, ease of use and increasing broadband penetration we started to warm to the service. There was also the assurance from Gabe Newell (although trying to source a direct quote relating to this is proving elusive) that should Steam have to shut down there'll be a patch issued that would free your game library from its decaying hands. With Microsoft's announcement there wasn't, or at least it wasn't communicated well, an equivalent assurance that would allow gamers to continue to play such games past the time when the Xbox Live service disappeared.
Indeed this problem faces all gamers as many titles move towards a more connected model which could mean that core features become unusuable the second the developer can no longer support running the back end infrastructure. For some times, ones that are traditionally multiplayer only, this is kind of expected but the difference between Diablo and Diablo III for instance is that in 20 years I can almost guarantee the former will still be able to be run by anyone with the disc, the latter I'm not sure will see the end of this decade. Sure the number of people doing this might not be in the majority but they're a vocal one and the sole reason why services like GoG exist. Had Microsoft given some assurances to the contrary they might not be in the position they are today and those features might still be available to Xbox customers.
It may seem like we're just being backwards Luddites bent on keeping the status quo but it's far more than that, we just want to be able to play our games long into the future like we can do with so many titles we grew up on. I see no technical reason why systems can't be built to enable both sides of the equation, one that allows us to sell/trade digital games whilst also giving the opportunity to play offline whenever we want, but the reasons are far more likely business in nature. It's a real shame as Microsoft could have really outdone Sony on this particular front but it seems like they're instead gearing up for being second place, capitulating just enough so they don't end up competing with the Wii U for scraps of market share.
Whilst its easy to argue to the contrary Microsoft really is a company that listens to its customers. Many of the improvements I wrote about during my time at TechEd North America were the direct result of them consulting with their users and integrating their requests into their updated product lines. Of course this doesn't make them immune to blundering down the wrong path as they have done with the XboxOne (and a lot would argue Windows 8 as well, something which I'm finding hard to ignore these days) something which Sony gleefully capitalized on. Their initial attempts at damage control did little to help their image and it was looking like they were just going to wear it until launch day.
And then they did this:
Essentially it's a backtrack to the way things are done today with the removal of the need for the console to check in every day in order for you to be able to play installed/disc based games. This comes hand in hand with Microsoft now allowing you to trade/sell/gift your disc based games to anyone, just like you can do now. They're keeping the ability to download games directly from Xbox Live although it seems the somewhat convoluted sharing program has also been nixed, meaning you can no longer share games with your family members nor can you share downloaded titles with friends. Considering that not many people found that particular feature attractive I'm not sure it will be missed but it does look like Microsoft wanted to put the boot in a little to show us what we could have had.
I'll be honest and say I didn't expect this as Microsoft had been pretty adamant that it was going to stick around regardless of what the consumers thought. Indeed actions taken by other companies like EA seemed to indicate that this move was going to be permanent, hence them abandoning things that would now be part of the platform. There's been a bit of speculation that this was somehow planned all along; that Microsoft was gauging the Market's reaction and would react based on that but if that was the case this policy would have been reversed a lot sooner, long before the backlash reached its crescendo during E3. The fact that they've made these changes shows that they're listening now but there's not to suggest that this was their plan all along.
Of course this doesn't address some of the other issues that gamers have taken with the XboxOne, most notably the higher cost (even if its semi-justified by the included Kinect) and the rather US centric nature of many of the media features. Personally the higher price doesn't factor into my decision too much, although I do know that's a big deal for some, but since the XboxOne's big selling points was around it's media features it feels like a lot of the value I could derive from it is simply unavailable to me. Even those in the USA get a little bit of a rough ride with Netflix being behind the Xbox Live Gold wall (when it's always available on the PS4) but since both of them are requiring the subscription for online play it's not really something I can really fault/praise either of them for.
For what it's worth this move might be enough to bring those who were on the fence back into the fold but as the polls and preorders showed there's a lot of consumers who have already voted with their wallets. If this console generation has the same longevity as the current one then there's every chance for Microsoft to make up the gap over the course of the next 8 years and considering that the majority of the console sales happen after the launch year it's quite possible that all this outrage could turn out to be nothing more than a bump in the road. Still the first battle in this generation of console wars has been unequivocally won by Sony and it's Microsoft's job to make up that lost ground.