Last year, the scratch-off tickets resulted in more than $2.3 billion in sales, comprising 62 percent of the lottery’s record sales that fell just shy of $3.7 billion. All told, the lottery games produced over $1 billion in profits to fund programs for senior citizens.Managing the lottery’s portfolio of instant games, coming up with new game concepts, enticing players to buy more tickets in a manner that it considers socially responsible, and making sure the ticket supply doesn’t run out at lottery retailers is a full-time job for nearly 400 people.
The Pennsylvania Lottery employs 236 people. Some 152 others work for state’s lottery servicing contractor, New York-based Scientific Games International, Inc., here in the commonwealth.Although there has been talk for well over the past year of outsourcing the lottery’s management, that issue remains unresolved.But a recent visit to lottery’s highly secured headquarters in Lower Swatara Twp. offered no clue that such upheaval was on the horizon.
Rather, employees there were plotting and planning more ways to entice players to spend their money in hopes of making more money for at least the next 18 months.Lottery games’ sales trends here and China Porcelain tile. Decades of product development experience. Focus groups. Industry gut.All are factors that go into the development of new lottery games.
Developing new draw-based games, such as The Daily Number and Treasure Hunt, are derived through the same process as instant games but take longer to develop. They require creating software and seemingly endless testing to make sure a game works before it can be introduced to the lottery’s line-up, according to lottery officials.With instant tickets, the focus is on keeping the games fresh and appealing to players. Every month, four to six new instant games are introduced and the same number are closed out. According to Scientific Games, the nation's leading supplier of instant lottery tickets, that is a higher frequency than most state lotteries.
“You always have to have something on deck to not only replace that certain type of game, whether it be a theme or whether it be a price point,” said Todd Rucci, lottery director. “The science behind that is truly amazing.”The lottery maintains an 18-month calendar that projects when each game is going to end and what comes next, said Cal Heath, the lottery’s director of research and regulations.
“We’re really looking at having the research done maybe six to 12 months in advance of when we launch those new games,” he said.That means, for example, ideas for winter games are being bandied about in the heat of summer, said Kara Sparks, deputy marketing director for product management.
Many game concepts bubble up from previous instant games. Sometimes, players suggest ideas and those ideas are welcome although lottery officials emphasize there is no remuneration offered in return.Once mock versions of game concepts are developed, they are taken to focus groups to gauge reactions and player input.
Primarily, Heath said these sessions are in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia but on occasion have been held in other locations around the state, including Harrisburg.“We usually try to get enough players from an urban and suburban setting because quite often they’ll think a little different,” he said.
Participants in focus groups are carefully screened. For example, Heath said you don’t want players who dislike the “extended play” games like Bingo Star or Crossword 5X evaluating that type of game concept. Or players who only play the $5, $10 and $20 instant games are not chosen to test out lower-priced game ideas.A moderator leads groups of 10 to 12 participants through a 90-minute discussion that is observed behind a one-way mirror by lottery employees.
Some focus on the manner in which the session is conducted to be sure concepts are presented in an objective fashion. Others zero in on what participants are saying about the games themselves.The purpose of the focus group is to gather ideas on how to adjust a particular game or provide food for thought for future games.
“It really does help us hone the games that we introduce,” Heath said.The lottery shared snippets of a video of a focus group discussion that helped shape the instant ticket game named “polished tiles.”Immediately upon seeing the picture of a bulging wallet on a mock ticket, one woman remarked, “I like it all already.”
Another commented on how she liked the large print and seeing that the $5 game offered 12 chances to win.Then they turned to a picture of the mock ticket with the scratch-off material removed. Several quickly discerned a match with a winning number that would have carried a $50 prize if the ticket was real.Mock tickets shown to focus groups are always winners. Svitko said, “It’s not to improve their opinion but it’s to make sure they understand how to play because sometimes some games are more confusing.”
The energetic response “Fat Wallet” evoked from this and other focus groups helped convince Sparks and other lottery officials this game would be a winner with players hoping the game would live up to its name.Once a concept is nailed down, the artwork gets finetuned and color choices are made. Lottery officials are careful that games on sale at the same time have different themes and color schemes.
Based on focus group reaction, decisions might be made to add a second-chance of winning to a game. And the ticket price gets evaluated as well. Lottery likes to have a good mix of different priced tickets on sale at the same time to attract all types of players.The odds of winning are yet another matter. Instant tickets offer anywhere between a 25 and 33 percent chance of winning on each ticket. The number of winning tickets can differ depending on the prize structure. If a game offers multiple top prizes, the number of small prizes might be lower than a game with fewer top prizes.
Lottery officials also point out that once a game's top prizes are claimed, the game is closed and no more of its tickets are sold.All of this is done to ensure a good playing experience, which lottery officials realize is critical to keeping players coming back to buy more tickets.Throughout the process, lottery officials consult with Scientific Games to draw on their experience with lottery games.
“It’s one thing for something to sound great but we can’t afford so-so games,” Svitko said. “We don’t take risks when it comes to generating money for older Pennsylvanians.”Players take risk. So does Scientific Games, which gets paid based on a percentage of ticket sold. Last year, the company was paid nearly $62.3 million for its work with the Pennsylvania Lottery.
Its contract for instant games requires Scientific Games to cover the cost of printing tickets, which is done at its facility in Alpharetta, Ga.; warehousing them; and distributing them.If the lottery would decide a game isn't selling well and decides to close it down, Scientific Games is obligated to pull it off the street even if it hasn't recouped all its costs. That's how its contract is structured giving the company incentive to partner with the lottery to ensure every game is a moneymaker, officials said.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年8月26日星期一
What's up with Grove Arcade?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t pause for a minute here and acknowledge a loss at the paper.Last week, six of my newsroom colleagues were laid off, the latest indication of tough economic times in the newspaper business. I just want to say that these six folks — Susan Reinhardt, Jason Sandford, John Fletcher, Jaime McKee, Thomas Fraser and Rob Mikulak — are all top-notch people and journalists, and I’ll miss them around the office.
They gave a lot of fantastic years to this paper and the community, and I wish them the best.I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping me employed is your burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal. So let’s get to this week’s batch.Chuck Tessier, of Ceramic tile, which handles maintenance on the landmark building, said the scaffolding is part of a 14-18-month project to repair the parapet walls and the roof of the main building. It is there mainly as a safety precaution.
“They’re working on the parapets and the caps of the parapets, and we want to make sure nothing falls off onto the sidewalk while they’re doing that,” Tessier said. “They will move the scaffolding with them as they move around the building.”Water has been seeping through the terra cotta tile on the parapets, then traveling down the walls. The workers will remove the cap, seal up the parapets and add flashing, then replace the caps. Next, crews will re-roof the building.
“They are going to have to take it down to the original structure, then come back up with layers of insulation and a membrane roof,” Tessier said.Built by malaria chill tonic magnate E.W. Grove, the Grove Arcade opened in 1929. At 269,000 square feet, it now houses shops and restaurants on the first floor and offices and apartments above. The building became federal offices during World War II but closed when the National Climatic Data Center moved to a new federal building in the mid-1990s.
As far as the tiles, many of which on the lower level have become faded or discolored looking, Tessier said that repair will come after the roof and parapet project. The water seepage has affected glazing on the tiles, and a previous glaze used on them was inappropriate and allowed ultraviolet rays to discolor them.The tiles and roof of the top two floors were redone previously, and they give a good idea of what the rest of the building will look like when the tile work eventually is done.
“First of all, we didn’t eliminate all the one-hour times for parking on that street,” said Harry Brown, parking services manager for the city of Asheville. “We just took the six spaces directly adjacent to our parking deck and made it bus parking. It’s perfect for it, for our city buses, and we don’t have enough parking for tour buses downtown.”Right now, the only spot tour buses can park is next to the Wall Street deck on Battery Park. Brown said they’ve gotten several calls from tour bus companies asking about places to park.
“We decided to make it accessible on South Lexington so people on tour buses could access that part of town,” Brown said. “Our mission is to accommodate everybody.”Andrea Barclay knows what makes a great kitchen. The classically trained pastry chef has worked in enough of them, including the one at her popular Global Gourmet restaurant in Carbondale.
In fact, it was that kitchen’s cramped, enclosed layout that drove the design of her home version. “I’m tall, so I feel claustrophobic in a hurry,” the Johnston City native said, Floor tiles. “I work all day and night in my small kitchen at Global, so I really wanted to open up my kitchen at home.”
When Barclay bought the house last year, the kitchen was filled with white appliances, brown-painted cabinets and worn linoleum flooring. Along with completing many other projects, she expanded her kitchen’s size and vastly improved its aesthetics. She worked with a local contractor to design the layout, ordered new cabinets and removed the soffit above the cabinets to open the ceiling height. This captured a more airy atmosphere while also allowing her to display unique artwork.
The black marble floor contrasts starkly against the white cabinets and tall, angled ceiling. It is a visual that almost didn’t come to fruition. “My original plan was to have dark, distressed looking cabinets with a white marble floor,” she said. But when Barclay fell in love with the black marble, it was a perfect fit. It transitions seamlessly into the upper level’s wood floor that she refinished to its original light color.
The kitchen opens to a sitting area Barclay designed to allow guests to enjoy a casual chat, a glass of wine and an up-close view of the chef in her element.Her kitchen is loaded with gadgets, platters, pots and pans — some of which are stored in a printer’s table sideboard she purchased from Restoration Hardware, one of Barclay’s favorite furniture vendors.
The high-level commercial equipment is all stainless steel and provides a perfect pairing to the silver specks within the honed white granite countertop. “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “I love a splash of bling, so I fell in love with it. It’s very unique and super thick, so it will withstand the wear and tear of a chef.”
The refrigerator, range and hood are all Viking, one of the top names in kitchen appliances. Barclay’s Bosch dishwasher is also a sight to see.“It’s my favorite appliance,” she said, marveling at the red light that shines on the floor to let you know that the ultra-quiet machine is running a cycle. “It’s so cool.”“Cool” is how Barclay describes the overall feel of her kitchen. Rustic, yet modern, with a definite European flair.
“It’s a mix of Paris and Provence,” she said. “It is very rustic European-looking. I’ve made several trips to Europe and love a mix of French/Italian country, but with a modern twist.”
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
They gave a lot of fantastic years to this paper and the community, and I wish them the best.I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping me employed is your burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal. So let’s get to this week’s batch.Chuck Tessier, of Ceramic tile, which handles maintenance on the landmark building, said the scaffolding is part of a 14-18-month project to repair the parapet walls and the roof of the main building. It is there mainly as a safety precaution.
“They’re working on the parapets and the caps of the parapets, and we want to make sure nothing falls off onto the sidewalk while they’re doing that,” Tessier said. “They will move the scaffolding with them as they move around the building.”Water has been seeping through the terra cotta tile on the parapets, then traveling down the walls. The workers will remove the cap, seal up the parapets and add flashing, then replace the caps. Next, crews will re-roof the building.
“They are going to have to take it down to the original structure, then come back up with layers of insulation and a membrane roof,” Tessier said.Built by malaria chill tonic magnate E.W. Grove, the Grove Arcade opened in 1929. At 269,000 square feet, it now houses shops and restaurants on the first floor and offices and apartments above. The building became federal offices during World War II but closed when the National Climatic Data Center moved to a new federal building in the mid-1990s.
As far as the tiles, many of which on the lower level have become faded or discolored looking, Tessier said that repair will come after the roof and parapet project. The water seepage has affected glazing on the tiles, and a previous glaze used on them was inappropriate and allowed ultraviolet rays to discolor them.The tiles and roof of the top two floors were redone previously, and they give a good idea of what the rest of the building will look like when the tile work eventually is done.
“First of all, we didn’t eliminate all the one-hour times for parking on that street,” said Harry Brown, parking services manager for the city of Asheville. “We just took the six spaces directly adjacent to our parking deck and made it bus parking. It’s perfect for it, for our city buses, and we don’t have enough parking for tour buses downtown.”Right now, the only spot tour buses can park is next to the Wall Street deck on Battery Park. Brown said they’ve gotten several calls from tour bus companies asking about places to park.
“We decided to make it accessible on South Lexington so people on tour buses could access that part of town,” Brown said. “Our mission is to accommodate everybody.”Andrea Barclay knows what makes a great kitchen. The classically trained pastry chef has worked in enough of them, including the one at her popular Global Gourmet restaurant in Carbondale.
In fact, it was that kitchen’s cramped, enclosed layout that drove the design of her home version. “I’m tall, so I feel claustrophobic in a hurry,” the Johnston City native said, Floor tiles. “I work all day and night in my small kitchen at Global, so I really wanted to open up my kitchen at home.”
When Barclay bought the house last year, the kitchen was filled with white appliances, brown-painted cabinets and worn linoleum flooring. Along with completing many other projects, she expanded her kitchen’s size and vastly improved its aesthetics. She worked with a local contractor to design the layout, ordered new cabinets and removed the soffit above the cabinets to open the ceiling height. This captured a more airy atmosphere while also allowing her to display unique artwork.
The black marble floor contrasts starkly against the white cabinets and tall, angled ceiling. It is a visual that almost didn’t come to fruition. “My original plan was to have dark, distressed looking cabinets with a white marble floor,” she said. But when Barclay fell in love with the black marble, it was a perfect fit. It transitions seamlessly into the upper level’s wood floor that she refinished to its original light color.
The kitchen opens to a sitting area Barclay designed to allow guests to enjoy a casual chat, a glass of wine and an up-close view of the chef in her element.Her kitchen is loaded with gadgets, platters, pots and pans — some of which are stored in a printer’s table sideboard she purchased from Restoration Hardware, one of Barclay’s favorite furniture vendors.
The high-level commercial equipment is all stainless steel and provides a perfect pairing to the silver specks within the honed white granite countertop. “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “I love a splash of bling, so I fell in love with it. It’s very unique and super thick, so it will withstand the wear and tear of a chef.”
The refrigerator, range and hood are all Viking, one of the top names in kitchen appliances. Barclay’s Bosch dishwasher is also a sight to see.“It’s my favorite appliance,” she said, marveling at the red light that shines on the floor to let you know that the ultra-quiet machine is running a cycle. “It’s so cool.”“Cool” is how Barclay describes the overall feel of her kitchen. Rustic, yet modern, with a definite European flair.
“It’s a mix of Paris and Provence,” she said. “It is very rustic European-looking. I’ve made several trips to Europe and love a mix of French/Italian country, but with a modern twist.”
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年8月19日星期一
After move, Dolce Vita improves
As any long-time Phantom fan knows, searching out authentic Italian meals in Central PA is both a challenge and a passion for your favorite restaurant reviewer.Such a challenge/passion often results in disappointment and lowered expectations.A good example was several years ago when I took Italian friends to a place I’d heard of in Enola called Dolce Vita (literally “sweet life”).
The experience was less than sweet, so far less that I didn’t even write about it. I figured I’d wait, give it a second chance, but I just never went back.So it was with suspicion and low expectations that I ventured out to the relocated Dolce Vita, which moved this year from Enola to Camp Hill.
Well, vivere e imparare — live and learn!For although Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is owned and operated by the same Nino Basic who owned and operated Dolce Vita in Enola, dining in the new location is very different.Maybe some of that is atmospheric. As I recall, Dolce Vita in Enola was just a cut above a working-class neighborhood saloon and about as Italianate as a blue-collar bar in Essen. Not that there’s anything wrong with establishments of Ceramic tile. It’s just they’re rarely home to well-made angel hair pasta. And the overall feel at Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is different.
Located in a renovated two-story house along the main drag of Market Street, it has a nice, quiet Italian feel thanks to its warm colors and lighting, an interior stone archway, tile floors, linen tablecloths, Italian art, a first-floor serving bar — although the place is BYOB — and Italian opera music playing in the background.
Appetizers included mushrooms stuffed with lump crab and baked clams casino with baby clams. Both were exceptional.The regular menu, which seems to me entirely sufficient, is accompanied with a list of “specials” (chicken meatballs and crabmeat-stuffed salmon, for example) that seem to outnumber the regulars.
This generally raises questions for me along the lines of: How can any kitchen, let alone a small one, offer such variety without liberal use of frozen foods? And, if one is eating frozen foods, why not dine at home?But, having said that, entrées sampled at my table were very good, and one was better than that.
I had steak di Napoli ($21), a New York strip steak with mushrooms, onions and green and red peppers in marinara sauce. Though the steak (ordered rare) was a tad tough and not quite rare, it was tasty. The peppers were great. And the side of pasta that comes with all nonpasta entrées was perfect.A dining partner had a “special,” capellini d’Angelo ($24), extra-thin spaghetti served with shrimp, large chunks of crab and asparagus. The dish drew rave reviews and was large enough to also provide lunch the following day.
The restaurant offers standards: red or white linguine with clams; veal or chicken Piccata or Marsala; spaghetti with meatballs or sausage; manicotti, baked ziti and just about any other classic Italian dish you can think of.But it also has offerings such as red snapper with shrimp dipped in eggs, and a house dish of sautéed veal with eggplant, porcelain tiles, ham, onions, tomato and mozzarella in a white wine sauce — in other words, variety.
This is the kind of place, largely due to its location, that can become a regular stop for a lot of people, including neighborhood walk-ins.If you bring wine, there is no corking fee. Ice buckets for white wine are available upon request. There’s better Italian in Central PA. But Dolce Vita of Camp Hill shows promise. Its challenge will be to maintain consistency given the wide variety it offers. The irony? Owner operator Nino Basic is from Yugoslavia. But, hey, everybody loves Italian.
Today’s kitchens easily supplant the bathroom as the home’s most dangerous room. While scalds and falls on tile can inflict serious harm in the bathroom, modern kitchen appliances and gadgets offer many more opportunities for injury. Even a seemingly simple kitchen task can result in a devastating injury.
Just ask April Stewart Klausner, a New York illustrator and accomplished cook. Recently Ms. Klausner, 56, severed four tendons, multiple nerves and a blood vessel in her hand while pitting an avocado, something she’d done countless times.
Gushing blood and unable to feel or move two fingers, she was taken by ambulance to an emergency room. The injury required more than three hours of surgical repair and many months of painful rehab. It will take at least a year for the injured nerves to heal, and Ms. Klausner can only hope her hand will function normally, enabling her to resume her career full-speed.
The therapists at Lang Hand Therapy in Manhattan told her she was the fourth “avocado victim” they’d seen that month. “So add that to immersion blenders and mandolines . . . and maybe the bathroom is not the most dangerous room in the house!” Ms. Klausner said in an e-mail.
Knowledge and mindfulness are the secrets to kitchen safety. My husband used to say, “From rushing no good can come.” Don’t try to do several things at once, and leave enough time to accomplish your tasks.
Use timers, especially for foods that cook a long time. I use them for everything I cook. My favorite is the battery-operated West Bend Kitchen Timer, easily set by punching in the numbers for hours, minutes and seconds — a worthwhile investment.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
The experience was less than sweet, so far less that I didn’t even write about it. I figured I’d wait, give it a second chance, but I just never went back.So it was with suspicion and low expectations that I ventured out to the relocated Dolce Vita, which moved this year from Enola to Camp Hill.
Well, vivere e imparare — live and learn!For although Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is owned and operated by the same Nino Basic who owned and operated Dolce Vita in Enola, dining in the new location is very different.Maybe some of that is atmospheric. As I recall, Dolce Vita in Enola was just a cut above a working-class neighborhood saloon and about as Italianate as a blue-collar bar in Essen. Not that there’s anything wrong with establishments of Ceramic tile. It’s just they’re rarely home to well-made angel hair pasta. And the overall feel at Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is different.
Located in a renovated two-story house along the main drag of Market Street, it has a nice, quiet Italian feel thanks to its warm colors and lighting, an interior stone archway, tile floors, linen tablecloths, Italian art, a first-floor serving bar — although the place is BYOB — and Italian opera music playing in the background.
Appetizers included mushrooms stuffed with lump crab and baked clams casino with baby clams. Both were exceptional.The regular menu, which seems to me entirely sufficient, is accompanied with a list of “specials” (chicken meatballs and crabmeat-stuffed salmon, for example) that seem to outnumber the regulars.
This generally raises questions for me along the lines of: How can any kitchen, let alone a small one, offer such variety without liberal use of frozen foods? And, if one is eating frozen foods, why not dine at home?But, having said that, entrées sampled at my table were very good, and one was better than that.
I had steak di Napoli ($21), a New York strip steak with mushrooms, onions and green and red peppers in marinara sauce. Though the steak (ordered rare) was a tad tough and not quite rare, it was tasty. The peppers were great. And the side of pasta that comes with all nonpasta entrées was perfect.A dining partner had a “special,” capellini d’Angelo ($24), extra-thin spaghetti served with shrimp, large chunks of crab and asparagus. The dish drew rave reviews and was large enough to also provide lunch the following day.
The restaurant offers standards: red or white linguine with clams; veal or chicken Piccata or Marsala; spaghetti with meatballs or sausage; manicotti, baked ziti and just about any other classic Italian dish you can think of.But it also has offerings such as red snapper with shrimp dipped in eggs, and a house dish of sautéed veal with eggplant, porcelain tiles, ham, onions, tomato and mozzarella in a white wine sauce — in other words, variety.
This is the kind of place, largely due to its location, that can become a regular stop for a lot of people, including neighborhood walk-ins.If you bring wine, there is no corking fee. Ice buckets for white wine are available upon request. There’s better Italian in Central PA. But Dolce Vita of Camp Hill shows promise. Its challenge will be to maintain consistency given the wide variety it offers. The irony? Owner operator Nino Basic is from Yugoslavia. But, hey, everybody loves Italian.
Today’s kitchens easily supplant the bathroom as the home’s most dangerous room. While scalds and falls on tile can inflict serious harm in the bathroom, modern kitchen appliances and gadgets offer many more opportunities for injury. Even a seemingly simple kitchen task can result in a devastating injury.
Just ask April Stewart Klausner, a New York illustrator and accomplished cook. Recently Ms. Klausner, 56, severed four tendons, multiple nerves and a blood vessel in her hand while pitting an avocado, something she’d done countless times.
Gushing blood and unable to feel or move two fingers, she was taken by ambulance to an emergency room. The injury required more than three hours of surgical repair and many months of painful rehab. It will take at least a year for the injured nerves to heal, and Ms. Klausner can only hope her hand will function normally, enabling her to resume her career full-speed.
The therapists at Lang Hand Therapy in Manhattan told her she was the fourth “avocado victim” they’d seen that month. “So add that to immersion blenders and mandolines . . . and maybe the bathroom is not the most dangerous room in the house!” Ms. Klausner said in an e-mail.
Knowledge and mindfulness are the secrets to kitchen safety. My husband used to say, “From rushing no good can come.” Don’t try to do several things at once, and leave enough time to accomplish your tasks.
Use timers, especially for foods that cook a long time. I use them for everything I cook. My favorite is the battery-operated West Bend Kitchen Timer, easily set by punching in the numbers for hours, minutes and seconds — a worthwhile investment.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
Fear and triumph
Dozens of Seddon residents have been told that if the Haldon dam breaches they will get 90 minutes' warning before their properties could be flooded.Marlborough District Council assets and services manager Mark Wheeler said that in a worst-case scenario 44 properties in Seddon could be affected if floodwater flowed into Starborough Creek.
The dam, in Starborough Creek, is about 15 kilometres out of Seddon and is owned by Seddon farmer Dick Bell. He was advised to lower the level after the magnitude 6.5 quake on July 21, but after Friday's magnitude 6.6 quake and subsequent heavy rain, the council sent an engineer to supervise an emergency plan to lower the water level.
A dam engineer overseeing the site also identified more issues with the dam's stability during the process, which was slowed by heavy rain at the weekend.Nearby residents were warned and emergency services were on standby in Seddon because of the increased risk, Mr Wheeler said.
A warning note was delivered to each household yesterday afternoon informing the occupants of the Ceramic tile and the possibility they might be asked to leave their homes at short notice.Emergency services would go door to door evacuating properties if necessary, Mr Wheeler said.
Properties at risk included eight rural properties, 12 houses and up to 24 sections in Seddon township on the southeastern side of Starborough Creek. The engineer said extreme flooding was unlikely but the council decided it was in the public interest to be prepared, Mr Wheeler said. Crew member Pani Rarere, of Kaikoura, said lines were bent and rock-ballast was slumped along the track between Ward and Seddon.
A 3km section at Hauwai near Grassmere was especially hard hit, he said.A work train had delivered six wagons of rock-fill from Hapuku, near Kaikoura, to fill collapsed areas beneath the rails, he said. Another 12 wagons were expected.A tamping machine from Greymouth packed down the rock.
A broken bridge was temporarily fixed ahead of a specialist bridging gang from Blenheim building a replacement.Bruce Pattie, who farms at Hauwai, said immediately after the quake, the lines resembled roller-coaster tracks. One section had fallen off the embankment and a bridge was out.
He rang KiwiRail to make sure no trains were coming. A 22-year-old Seddon woman had a weekend of horror, experiencing a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on Friday and then a bus crash on Sunday.
Micha Heard was travelling back to Palmerston North after spending a week with her family in the Awatere when the bus she was in crashed near Shannon.The former Marlborough Girls' College student had been staying with her parents in their Redwood Pass Rd home while on a study-break from her nursing studies at UCOL in Palmerston North.
She and her father were driving to Blenheim when the quake hit on Friday."People had stopped their Floor tiles and were checking their tyres," Miss Heard said.They carried on to Blenheim to check on her grandmother then drove home to help clean up the minor damage.
"It was just scary," she said."We ran outside every time there was an aftershock."After two days of being on unsteady ground, she caught the ferry back to Wellington on Sunday and got on a bus to Palmerston North along with 38 other passengers.
The bus was crossing a narrow bridge when the driver appeared to lose control, Miss Heard said."He seemed to click the bridge and then crashed into the grass gully," she said."Everyone was screaming, saying ‘we're going to crash'."Three people slammed on top of her as the bus veered off the road and tipped over at the northern entrance to Shannon.Miss Heard landed on the bottom and smashed her head on the glass window.
After struggling out from underneath the people piled on top of her, she climbed over the seat and helped some other passengers push the emergency window out.Apart from a big bump on her head and some bruising on her body, she was not seriously hurt, she said.
"I was shocked at what happened but I stayed calm," she said."Because I'd just been through the earthquakes, I think I was less worried."Those on board were taken by ambulance and police cars to the Club Hotel in Shannon, where a triage centre was set up by St John medics.Six people were taken to Palmerston North Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and were all discharged by yesterday.
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QuadTech’s Color Measurement System with SpectralCam HD enables continuous, in-line monitoring of all packaging substrates, including challenging transparent, translucent and reflective films. It accurately measures the spectral response and calculates, and dot gain all at full press speeds, ensuring consistent results and minimal make-ready waste. The system also utilizes a web stabilizer unit that enables color measurement over a certified BCRA ceramic tile without risk of substrate corrugation.
Also available for the package printer is the Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System, which is suitable for foil, film and paper, as well as for non-print processes such as die-cutting. Its unique scanning heads can detect a wide range of pale and low-contrast marks and are flexible to transition to any new production substrate.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
The dam, in Starborough Creek, is about 15 kilometres out of Seddon and is owned by Seddon farmer Dick Bell. He was advised to lower the level after the magnitude 6.5 quake on July 21, but after Friday's magnitude 6.6 quake and subsequent heavy rain, the council sent an engineer to supervise an emergency plan to lower the water level.
A dam engineer overseeing the site also identified more issues with the dam's stability during the process, which was slowed by heavy rain at the weekend.Nearby residents were warned and emergency services were on standby in Seddon because of the increased risk, Mr Wheeler said.
A warning note was delivered to each household yesterday afternoon informing the occupants of the Ceramic tile and the possibility they might be asked to leave their homes at short notice.Emergency services would go door to door evacuating properties if necessary, Mr Wheeler said.
Properties at risk included eight rural properties, 12 houses and up to 24 sections in Seddon township on the southeastern side of Starborough Creek. The engineer said extreme flooding was unlikely but the council decided it was in the public interest to be prepared, Mr Wheeler said. Crew member Pani Rarere, of Kaikoura, said lines were bent and rock-ballast was slumped along the track between Ward and Seddon.
A 3km section at Hauwai near Grassmere was especially hard hit, he said.A work train had delivered six wagons of rock-fill from Hapuku, near Kaikoura, to fill collapsed areas beneath the rails, he said. Another 12 wagons were expected.A tamping machine from Greymouth packed down the rock.
A broken bridge was temporarily fixed ahead of a specialist bridging gang from Blenheim building a replacement.Bruce Pattie, who farms at Hauwai, said immediately after the quake, the lines resembled roller-coaster tracks. One section had fallen off the embankment and a bridge was out.
He rang KiwiRail to make sure no trains were coming. A 22-year-old Seddon woman had a weekend of horror, experiencing a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on Friday and then a bus crash on Sunday.
Micha Heard was travelling back to Palmerston North after spending a week with her family in the Awatere when the bus she was in crashed near Shannon.The former Marlborough Girls' College student had been staying with her parents in their Redwood Pass Rd home while on a study-break from her nursing studies at UCOL in Palmerston North.
She and her father were driving to Blenheim when the quake hit on Friday."People had stopped their Floor tiles and were checking their tyres," Miss Heard said.They carried on to Blenheim to check on her grandmother then drove home to help clean up the minor damage.
"It was just scary," she said."We ran outside every time there was an aftershock."After two days of being on unsteady ground, she caught the ferry back to Wellington on Sunday and got on a bus to Palmerston North along with 38 other passengers.
The bus was crossing a narrow bridge when the driver appeared to lose control, Miss Heard said."He seemed to click the bridge and then crashed into the grass gully," she said."Everyone was screaming, saying ‘we're going to crash'."Three people slammed on top of her as the bus veered off the road and tipped over at the northern entrance to Shannon.Miss Heard landed on the bottom and smashed her head on the glass window.
After struggling out from underneath the people piled on top of her, she climbed over the seat and helped some other passengers push the emergency window out.Apart from a big bump on her head and some bruising on her body, she was not seriously hurt, she said.
"I was shocked at what happened but I stayed calm," she said."Because I'd just been through the earthquakes, I think I was less worried."Those on board were taken by ambulance and police cars to the Club Hotel in Shannon, where a triage centre was set up by St John medics.Six people were taken to Palmerston North Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and were all discharged by yesterday.
QuadTech offers fully integrated solutions including register and ribbon control, color control, ink control, 100% web inspection and data management software for virtually all printing and converting situations. For example, QuadTech’s Inspection System has a modular architecture that enables the system to inspect at any resolution on a variety of substrate surfaces on any web width—regardless of whether a press is Gravure, Offset, Flexo or Digital. The system ensures 100% inspection on all print or non-print product, web or sheet, throughout the entire print run.
The QuadTech Color Quality Solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between in-line color control and off-line color measurement industry leaders.
QuadTech’s recently introduced Color Quality Solution is the world’s first in-line color and ink control for packaging presses. The solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between QuadTech’s in-line color measurement and off-line color measurement industry leader X-Rite. This enables a standard spectral color measurement from ink dispensing and printing stages. Comparisons of printed work with the original color information begin immediately and the Color Measurement System with SpectralCamTM shows real-time ?E, solid density and dot gain values via an operator touch screen.
QuadTech’s Color Measurement System with SpectralCam HD enables continuous, in-line monitoring of all packaging substrates, including challenging transparent, translucent and reflective films. It accurately measures the spectral response and calculates, and dot gain all at full press speeds, ensuring consistent results and minimal make-ready waste. The system also utilizes a web stabilizer unit that enables color measurement over a certified BCRA ceramic tile without risk of substrate corrugation.
Also available for the package printer is the Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System, which is suitable for foil, film and paper, as well as for non-print processes such as die-cutting. Its unique scanning heads can detect a wide range of pale and low-contrast marks and are flexible to transition to any new production substrate.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年8月14日星期三
Outdoor Elegance Meets Cutting Edge Technology
If anything in the summer of 2013 points to still evolving homeowner expectations, it may be the frequency with which locals are integrating screen porches, patios, fire pits, and outdoor kitchens into original landscaping schemes that artfully marry the house to its setting.
Gone are the days of minimal outdoor improvements; today’s homeowners are inclined to stay put and express themselves — which is why the traditional house as we’ve known it is becoming more personalized — in short, a home.
“It’s a real renaissance,” said Craig Durosko founder and chairman of Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, and one of the housing industry’s more prescient trend spotters.
“Interestingly, when we started this company in the 1980s our core specialty was opening up views and creating visual continuum, so indoor/outdoor solutions are just a logical extension of what our culture has always been about.”
Asked about current projects, Durosko said that Fairfax County’s more affluent homeowners are actively seeking to better articulate the relationship of the house and polished tiles — an impulse which has gradually become a passion for outdoor spaces that can be used in both the hottest days of summer and fall’s chilly nights.
“Homeowners want outdoor rooms — spaces that are wired for entertainment, useable for seven or eight months of the year, and so easy to maintain that the usual repair and replacement tasks are mostly eliminated,” Durosko said. “Naturally, the changes must also enhance the home architecturally.”
To meet a rising criteria, Durosko and colleagues constantly stay on top of a new generation of weather-resistant materials, absorbing and applying fine building techniques that will shape non-traditional materials into designs perfectly suited to the home's style and setting.
Starting with a blank canvas — the unadorned rear elevation to a Georgian-style brick home in McLean — Parker imagined a six-sided pavilion, with 10-foot ceilings and sweeping vistas.
The structure would segue from the preexisting sunroom, courtesy of two sets of matching French doors. The white exterior trim is now crowned with a white balustrade visually connected to a columned “arbor trellis” that adds definition to the rear elevation. Since the high-ceiling interior the owners wanted precluded a conventional "pitched" roof — which would have obstructed a second floor window — Parker designed an inverted membrane ceiling that accommodates internal drainage tied into the existing underground system.
Rainspouts are concealed inside the trimmed porch columns and extended, unseen, along the ogee end "eagle head" trellis. The trellis “ends,” in turn, continue as a decorative motif around the top of the porch.
The overall design, as Parker envisioned, perfectly elaborates the home's classic architecture while spotlighting the impressive "English garden" that dominates the backyard. The existing barbecue grill remains steps from either the kitchen or the porch, but now there are multiple dining venues. From the porch, in fact, the owners can keep an eye on the pool when the children are playing.
The patchwork design of the English garden, the old, flagstone patio, the small pond with running water, the crepe myrtles along the property line — all give the setting a refined textural elegance.
“We think of an outdoor living plan is a creative response to an owner's personal requirements,” says Bob Gallagher, whose extensive design/build portfolio extends back some 25 years. “The important point is not how much of it is open or enclosed, but how well the whole supports a lifestyle in which exposure to nature is the primary goal.”
A recent dining decking plus sunroom solution in Oak Hill illustrates the point. After years of occupying a home custom-designed precisely to exploit a pretty wooded setting, the owners had decided they wanted a still stronger link to the outdoors. Low-maintenance was an essential ingredient, but they initially envisioned an “China ceramic tile,” free from insects — yet with dramatic views in all directions.
“They had looked at screen porches,” Gallagher said. “The idea was an enclosed space on the new dining deck. Something of a place apart. A transitional foot print between house and open air.”
At a glance, the resulting 10.5-foot by 12.5-foot sunroom is a neatly balanced space plan that seems neither closed nor overexposed to the elements. Floor-to-ceiling windows define the room on every elevation. Overhead, two skylights installed on a hipped roof allow 25 square feet of natural light. Ceramic tile flooring and other neutral finishes reinforce the natural, open ambiance, which is visually linked to the welcoming dining deck.
To preserve generous views on the existing rear elevation, Gallagher and team placed the sunroom directly off the kitchen to the left of the family room. Built-ins and a fireplace comfortably integrate the space to the existing interior. The room is a favored spot to watch the trees, and mostly opened-up for cross breezes on temperate days.
Since upkeep requirements were to be restricted to an annual pressure wash, even the sunroom's exterior paneling is low-maintenance Hardiboard. Trex decking, aluminum balusters and vinyl-clad posts further an outdoor design scheme that is also easy to maintain.
Sometimes Durosko's first call from a homeowner comes when some weather-exposed part of an existing house has conspicuously failed.
To repair the front facade of a Fairfax home, for instance, Durosko and team replaced a leaking flat roof portico with an architecturally-appropriate alternative that features a concave metal roof. In lieu of the original wood-trimmed front-window, the remodeler called for an aluminum-framed arch-topped window integrated with other exterior elements. For added weather-protection, new portico supports are trimmed in PVC.
Gone are the days of minimal outdoor improvements; today’s homeowners are inclined to stay put and express themselves — which is why the traditional house as we’ve known it is becoming more personalized — in short, a home.
“It’s a real renaissance,” said Craig Durosko founder and chairman of Sun Design Remodeling Specialists, and one of the housing industry’s more prescient trend spotters.
“Interestingly, when we started this company in the 1980s our core specialty was opening up views and creating visual continuum, so indoor/outdoor solutions are just a logical extension of what our culture has always been about.”
Asked about current projects, Durosko said that Fairfax County’s more affluent homeowners are actively seeking to better articulate the relationship of the house and polished tiles — an impulse which has gradually become a passion for outdoor spaces that can be used in both the hottest days of summer and fall’s chilly nights.
“Homeowners want outdoor rooms — spaces that are wired for entertainment, useable for seven or eight months of the year, and so easy to maintain that the usual repair and replacement tasks are mostly eliminated,” Durosko said. “Naturally, the changes must also enhance the home architecturally.”
To meet a rising criteria, Durosko and colleagues constantly stay on top of a new generation of weather-resistant materials, absorbing and applying fine building techniques that will shape non-traditional materials into designs perfectly suited to the home's style and setting.
Starting with a blank canvas — the unadorned rear elevation to a Georgian-style brick home in McLean — Parker imagined a six-sided pavilion, with 10-foot ceilings and sweeping vistas.
The structure would segue from the preexisting sunroom, courtesy of two sets of matching French doors. The white exterior trim is now crowned with a white balustrade visually connected to a columned “arbor trellis” that adds definition to the rear elevation. Since the high-ceiling interior the owners wanted precluded a conventional "pitched" roof — which would have obstructed a second floor window — Parker designed an inverted membrane ceiling that accommodates internal drainage tied into the existing underground system.
Rainspouts are concealed inside the trimmed porch columns and extended, unseen, along the ogee end "eagle head" trellis. The trellis “ends,” in turn, continue as a decorative motif around the top of the porch.
The overall design, as Parker envisioned, perfectly elaborates the home's classic architecture while spotlighting the impressive "English garden" that dominates the backyard. The existing barbecue grill remains steps from either the kitchen or the porch, but now there are multiple dining venues. From the porch, in fact, the owners can keep an eye on the pool when the children are playing.
The patchwork design of the English garden, the old, flagstone patio, the small pond with running water, the crepe myrtles along the property line — all give the setting a refined textural elegance.
“We think of an outdoor living plan is a creative response to an owner's personal requirements,” says Bob Gallagher, whose extensive design/build portfolio extends back some 25 years. “The important point is not how much of it is open or enclosed, but how well the whole supports a lifestyle in which exposure to nature is the primary goal.”
A recent dining decking plus sunroom solution in Oak Hill illustrates the point. After years of occupying a home custom-designed precisely to exploit a pretty wooded setting, the owners had decided they wanted a still stronger link to the outdoors. Low-maintenance was an essential ingredient, but they initially envisioned an “China ceramic tile,” free from insects — yet with dramatic views in all directions.
“They had looked at screen porches,” Gallagher said. “The idea was an enclosed space on the new dining deck. Something of a place apart. A transitional foot print between house and open air.”
At a glance, the resulting 10.5-foot by 12.5-foot sunroom is a neatly balanced space plan that seems neither closed nor overexposed to the elements. Floor-to-ceiling windows define the room on every elevation. Overhead, two skylights installed on a hipped roof allow 25 square feet of natural light. Ceramic tile flooring and other neutral finishes reinforce the natural, open ambiance, which is visually linked to the welcoming dining deck.
To preserve generous views on the existing rear elevation, Gallagher and team placed the sunroom directly off the kitchen to the left of the family room. Built-ins and a fireplace comfortably integrate the space to the existing interior. The room is a favored spot to watch the trees, and mostly opened-up for cross breezes on temperate days.
Since upkeep requirements were to be restricted to an annual pressure wash, even the sunroom's exterior paneling is low-maintenance Hardiboard. Trex decking, aluminum balusters and vinyl-clad posts further an outdoor design scheme that is also easy to maintain.
Sometimes Durosko's first call from a homeowner comes when some weather-exposed part of an existing house has conspicuously failed.
To repair the front facade of a Fairfax home, for instance, Durosko and team replaced a leaking flat roof portico with an architecturally-appropriate alternative that features a concave metal roof. In lieu of the original wood-trimmed front-window, the remodeler called for an aluminum-framed arch-topped window integrated with other exterior elements. For added weather-protection, new portico supports are trimmed in PVC.
Kingsport Ballet turns flood clean-up into restoration job
Following the July flood that inundated downtown Kingsport in two and three feet of water, Kingsport Ballet staff, volunteers, and hired hands went to work to extract, clean up, dry up and restore affected areas.The Kingsport Ballet facility was renovated into the current arts center in July of 2010. The original building housed the Dixie Maid Bakery in the 1930s and 1940s, and various businesses since then.
Kingsport Ballet renovated over 15,000 square feet of space into five studios, spacious waiting areas, dressing rooms and porcelain tiles, a wellness lounge and additional studios sublet to arts instructors. Some of the front rooms which serve as reception areas and waiting rooms were covered in old vinyl tile, which was repaired and cleaned but not replaced in 2010. The recent flood saturated the front half of the building under 2 inches of water and the vinyl tile became loose in areas and buckled in others.
Faced with various options for re-flooring, it was determined that the two layers of tile would need to come up to determine if ceramic tile, sealed concrete or other appropriate high-traffic flooring would be best in the approximately 900 square-foot area. In the process of removal, workers exposed large areas of original porcelain tile laid during the original construction of the bakery. The tile covers 90 percent of the floor affected.
During the 2010 renovations, some of the same tile was exposed in another area, but due to large spots of subfloor disrepair, only a small portion of the original tile was restored into a framed area about 4 feet by 10.
The recent flooding forced the exposure and subsequent restoration of the original hexagonal one-inch tile, typical during the 1930s and 1940s. Kingsport Ballet volunteers and staff have been stripping and cleaning the tile for several weeks in order to open doors for fall classes on Aug. 19.
In addition to restoring the waiting area floors, workers have repaired buckled subfloors in carpeted areas, ripped out and replaced base molding, repaired and patched walls that became wet during the flood and are replacing some furniture damaged by water.
The non-profit company — supported in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Kingsport Community Foundation, the City of Kingsport and various area sponsors — is seeking donations to offset renovation and restoration efforts as a result of the flood. A T-shirt commemorating the restoration has been created, and will be for sale on the corner of Cherokee and Market streets on Saturday, Aug. 17, during a downtown celebration event, and at Kingsport Ballet after that. Proceeds will help offset renovation and restoration expenses.
Kingsport Ballet is funded for general operations by the Tennessee Arts Commission under an agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts. Outreach programs are funded in part by the City of Kingsport, the East Tennessee Foundation’s Arts Fund, the Funds for At-Risk Youth with the Tennessee Arts Commission, Holston Medical Group, among others.
"If a spacecraft is hit by orbital debris it may damage the thermal protection system," said Eric Fahrenthold, professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, who studies impact dynamics both experimentally and through numerical simulations. "Even if the impact is not on the main heat shield, it may still adversely affect the spacecraft. The thermal researchers take the results of impact research and assess the effect of a certain impact crater depth and volume on the survivability of a spacecraft during reentry," Fahrenthold said.
Only some of the collisions that may occur in low earth orbit can be reproduced in the laboratory. To determine the potential impact of fast-moving orbital debris on spacecraft — and to assist NASA in the design of shielding that can withstand hypervelocity impacts — Fahrenthold and his team developed a numerical algorithm that simulates the shock physics of orbital debris particles striking the layers of Kevlar,China Porcelain tile, and fiberglass that makes up a space vehicle's outer defenses.
Supercomputers enable researchers to investigate physical phenomenon that cannot be duplicated in the laboratory, either because they are too large, small, dangerous — or in this case, too fast — to reproduce with current testing technology. Running hundreds of simulations on the Ranger, Lonestar and Stampede supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, Fahrenthold and his students have assisted NASA in the development of ballistic limit curves that predict whether a shield will be perforated when hit by a projectile of a given size and speed. NASA uses ballistic limit curves in the design and risk analysis of current and future spacecraft.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
Kingsport Ballet renovated over 15,000 square feet of space into five studios, spacious waiting areas, dressing rooms and porcelain tiles, a wellness lounge and additional studios sublet to arts instructors. Some of the front rooms which serve as reception areas and waiting rooms were covered in old vinyl tile, which was repaired and cleaned but not replaced in 2010. The recent flood saturated the front half of the building under 2 inches of water and the vinyl tile became loose in areas and buckled in others.
Faced with various options for re-flooring, it was determined that the two layers of tile would need to come up to determine if ceramic tile, sealed concrete or other appropriate high-traffic flooring would be best in the approximately 900 square-foot area. In the process of removal, workers exposed large areas of original porcelain tile laid during the original construction of the bakery. The tile covers 90 percent of the floor affected.
During the 2010 renovations, some of the same tile was exposed in another area, but due to large spots of subfloor disrepair, only a small portion of the original tile was restored into a framed area about 4 feet by 10.
The recent flooding forced the exposure and subsequent restoration of the original hexagonal one-inch tile, typical during the 1930s and 1940s. Kingsport Ballet volunteers and staff have been stripping and cleaning the tile for several weeks in order to open doors for fall classes on Aug. 19.
In addition to restoring the waiting area floors, workers have repaired buckled subfloors in carpeted areas, ripped out and replaced base molding, repaired and patched walls that became wet during the flood and are replacing some furniture damaged by water.
The non-profit company — supported in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Kingsport Community Foundation, the City of Kingsport and various area sponsors — is seeking donations to offset renovation and restoration efforts as a result of the flood. A T-shirt commemorating the restoration has been created, and will be for sale on the corner of Cherokee and Market streets on Saturday, Aug. 17, during a downtown celebration event, and at Kingsport Ballet after that. Proceeds will help offset renovation and restoration expenses.
Kingsport Ballet is funded for general operations by the Tennessee Arts Commission under an agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts. Outreach programs are funded in part by the City of Kingsport, the East Tennessee Foundation’s Arts Fund, the Funds for At-Risk Youth with the Tennessee Arts Commission, Holston Medical Group, among others.
"If a spacecraft is hit by orbital debris it may damage the thermal protection system," said Eric Fahrenthold, professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, who studies impact dynamics both experimentally and through numerical simulations. "Even if the impact is not on the main heat shield, it may still adversely affect the spacecraft. The thermal researchers take the results of impact research and assess the effect of a certain impact crater depth and volume on the survivability of a spacecraft during reentry," Fahrenthold said.
Only some of the collisions that may occur in low earth orbit can be reproduced in the laboratory. To determine the potential impact of fast-moving orbital debris on spacecraft — and to assist NASA in the design of shielding that can withstand hypervelocity impacts — Fahrenthold and his team developed a numerical algorithm that simulates the shock physics of orbital debris particles striking the layers of Kevlar,China Porcelain tile, and fiberglass that makes up a space vehicle's outer defenses.
Supercomputers enable researchers to investigate physical phenomenon that cannot be duplicated in the laboratory, either because they are too large, small, dangerous — or in this case, too fast — to reproduce with current testing technology. Running hundreds of simulations on the Ranger, Lonestar and Stampede supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, Fahrenthold and his students have assisted NASA in the development of ballistic limit curves that predict whether a shield will be perforated when hit by a projectile of a given size and speed. NASA uses ballistic limit curves in the design and risk analysis of current and future spacecraft.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
2013年8月12日星期一
Asheville artist creates display
That’s certainly the case of ceramic artist Alex Irvine’s new installation in Mission Hospital’s Memorial Campus lobby.The 16-foot-high piece — made of tiles inspired by Mission’s dogwood and cross logo — is designed to attract visitors.“Alex’s work brings you over here,” said Manner-McLarty, creative consultant from Asheville project management company, Heurista. “It’s large and impressive, and would entice you to explore the interactive components.”
Irvine’s work frames a tribute to the Mission Foundation, which raised $11 million for patient services last year, and the 130-year-old hospital’s major donors. In addition to recognition of Ceramic tile, a television with an updatable list of donors, as well as a historical timeline, anchors the work.
Irvine installed the piece in about a week; it was unveiled quietly last week. Foundation officials will plan an official dedication later.John Locke at the Mission Foundation said a tribute of this nature has been talked about for two decades.“Mission has been supported by donations and grants since it was founded,” he said. “A lot of times, with new buildings and department changes, recognitions get lost or maybe not rehung after a redesign. We wanted something really classy in the lobby, and we are guaranteed that this won’t change for a while.”
Irvine wanted his work to respond to the lobby’s earthy tones and natural elements — like rock face and wood design.The logo elements also worked together aesthetically, Irvine said.The cross “was a great way to fill the negative space between leaves and flowers, and balance the organic elements,” he said. “If you just cut the organic image with the grid of the tile, it can seem contrived.
“But now there is the cross and the square created by the negative space of the cross. These geometric lines gives a context for the squareness of the tiles.”
The overarching theme in this test build of the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) build is usability. Specifically, first-time usability. You might be surprised to hear this, but it turns out that Windows 8, without a Start button and with most features hidden behind hard-to-discover menus, is hard for first-time users to grok. We’re not entirely sure why Microsoft did this — it breaks one of the most important rules of interface design. Furthermore, thousands of beta testers, and tech writers like myself, warned Microsoft that it simply wouldn’t fly. Unperturbed, convinced that it knew something that we didn’t, Microsoft pushed ahead with one of the worst interface blunders of all time.
First up, Windows 8.1′s built-in Metro apps now have a “three dots” button that reveals the app’s context menu — just like Windows Phone 8. Previously, the only way to find the context menu was to stumble upon it by accident (right clicking the mouse, or swiping up). Presumably other third-party apps will have the option of including this visual prompt, too.
In the same vein, and perhaps more importantly, Microsoft’s built-in apps will now remind users to swipe in from the right to reveal the Charms bar and the Start button. Again, the Charms bar was previously only discoverable by random luck, leaving many users to wonder how to get back to the Start screen. Many Metro apps link into Share and Search on the Charms bar, too — but a fat lot of good that did, if users couldn’t find those buttons.
The test build also includes a “Help + Tips” app, which includes some video tutorials that will help you find your way around all of Windows 8.1′s new features. This is a significant step up from the previous “tutorial,” which essentially consisted of an animated, noninteractive GIF during the installation process telling you to “move your mouse into any corner.” As for why Microsoft didn’t includes these video tutorials in the original release of Windows 8, I guess the only answer is hubris.
Rounding out the other changes found in the leaked build, Skype is now pre-installed as a stock app, and Facebook and Flickr photo integration have been dropped in favor of SkyDrive. This is an obvious and fairly obnoxious play for more market/usage share from Microsoft, and really a bit of a slap in the face for any Windows 8 users who upgrade and find that they’ve lost access to their Flickr and Facebook photos. It’s possible that some functionality will be preserved by the introduction of Facebook and Flickr apps, but it still seems like an overzealous move from Microsoft. There are also some new “parallax” Start screen wallpapers that move as you scroll through your tiles, including a robot and a dragon.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
Irvine’s work frames a tribute to the Mission Foundation, which raised $11 million for patient services last year, and the 130-year-old hospital’s major donors. In addition to recognition of Ceramic tile, a television with an updatable list of donors, as well as a historical timeline, anchors the work.
Irvine installed the piece in about a week; it was unveiled quietly last week. Foundation officials will plan an official dedication later.John Locke at the Mission Foundation said a tribute of this nature has been talked about for two decades.“Mission has been supported by donations and grants since it was founded,” he said. “A lot of times, with new buildings and department changes, recognitions get lost or maybe not rehung after a redesign. We wanted something really classy in the lobby, and we are guaranteed that this won’t change for a while.”
Irvine wanted his work to respond to the lobby’s earthy tones and natural elements — like rock face and wood design.The logo elements also worked together aesthetically, Irvine said.The cross “was a great way to fill the negative space between leaves and flowers, and balance the organic elements,” he said. “If you just cut the organic image with the grid of the tile, it can seem contrived.
“But now there is the cross and the square created by the negative space of the cross. These geometric lines gives a context for the squareness of the tiles.”
The overarching theme in this test build of the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) build is usability. Specifically, first-time usability. You might be surprised to hear this, but it turns out that Windows 8, without a Start button and with most features hidden behind hard-to-discover menus, is hard for first-time users to grok. We’re not entirely sure why Microsoft did this — it breaks one of the most important rules of interface design. Furthermore, thousands of beta testers, and tech writers like myself, warned Microsoft that it simply wouldn’t fly. Unperturbed, convinced that it knew something that we didn’t, Microsoft pushed ahead with one of the worst interface blunders of all time.
First up, Windows 8.1′s built-in Metro apps now have a “three dots” button that reveals the app’s context menu — just like Windows Phone 8. Previously, the only way to find the context menu was to stumble upon it by accident (right clicking the mouse, or swiping up). Presumably other third-party apps will have the option of including this visual prompt, too.
In the same vein, and perhaps more importantly, Microsoft’s built-in apps will now remind users to swipe in from the right to reveal the Charms bar and the Start button. Again, the Charms bar was previously only discoverable by random luck, leaving many users to wonder how to get back to the Start screen. Many Metro apps link into Share and Search on the Charms bar, too — but a fat lot of good that did, if users couldn’t find those buttons.
The test build also includes a “Help + Tips” app, which includes some video tutorials that will help you find your way around all of Windows 8.1′s new features. This is a significant step up from the previous “tutorial,” which essentially consisted of an animated, noninteractive GIF during the installation process telling you to “move your mouse into any corner.” As for why Microsoft didn’t includes these video tutorials in the original release of Windows 8, I guess the only answer is hubris.
Rounding out the other changes found in the leaked build, Skype is now pre-installed as a stock app, and Facebook and Flickr photo integration have been dropped in favor of SkyDrive. This is an obvious and fairly obnoxious play for more market/usage share from Microsoft, and really a bit of a slap in the face for any Windows 8 users who upgrade and find that they’ve lost access to their Flickr and Facebook photos. It’s possible that some functionality will be preserved by the introduction of Facebook and Flickr apps, but it still seems like an overzealous move from Microsoft. There are also some new “parallax” Start screen wallpapers that move as you scroll through your tiles, including a robot and a dragon.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
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