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Every Lightsaber in the Star Wars Universe

One cannot deny that the lightsaber is one of the most easily recognizable weapons in pop culture history. What little kid hasn't imagined — nay, acted out — lightsaber battles after watching Star Wars? (Remember Star Wars Kid?) As Obi-Wan put it, the lightsaber is "an elegant weapon for a more civilized age" and Star Wars just wouldn't be Star Wars without it. Between movies, TV shows, video games, and books, there exists quite a number of lightsabers in the Star Wars universe. Well, the good folks at PixlParade have done the legwork and created the ultimate guide to all the lightsabers in the Star Wars universe. Check it out below: The article at PxlParade includes some other facts about lightsabers after the infographic, such as how...

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The World of Star Wars: A Timeline Visualization

What is considered canon in the Star Wars universe? When does each movie/show/book take place? These topics could be confusing to those not paying close attention, especially with the reboot of the franchise and the onslaught of new movies, a show, books, and comics.Outer Places has done the research for us and compiled everything into a huge infographic which walks us through the timeline, all the way from The Phantom Menace to the yet-to-be-named Episode IX. I don't know about you, but seeing all this together makes me even more psyched for December!Via BGR....

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The Disapproval Matrix

Where does criticism come from, and how should you handle it? Look no further than Ann Friedman's Disapproval Matrix.Critics: These are smart people who know something about your field. They are taking a hard look at your work and are not loving it. You'll probably want to listen to what they have to say, and make some adjustments to your work based on their thoughtful comments.Lovers: These people are invested in you and are also giving you negative but rational feedback because they want you to improve. Listen to them, too. Frenemies: Ooooh, this quadrant is tricky. These people really know how to hurt you, because they know you personally or know your work pretty well. But at the end of...

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100 Years of “The Perfect Body”

One of my favorite sections from Tina Fey’s 2009 bestseller Bossypants deals with body image:

I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom — Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful.

Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyoncé and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.

I know that in this day and age, we women are taught that true beauty shines from within, that our happiness, health, and confidence are far more important than our physical attributes. But let’s face it — I have not come across a single woman in my life who was 100% satisfied with her body, all the time.

And how can we, when our society’s perception of an ideal body is every-changing as well?

To illustrate this point, The Greatist has put together a series of images that outline just how much the American standard for the “perfect body” has evolved over the past 100 years. Take a look!

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