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Local and state architects, parks workers and politicians convened Friday to celebrate the rededication of a local state park.

The Ravine Gardens State Park is one of three public spaces in the state that the American Society of Landscape Architects chose to highlight.

Kevin Mangan, a member of the society, said their organization asked that every state pick one public space to feature.

But Florida is so big, Mangan said, that the Florida division of the society decided to highlight public spaces in north, central and south Florida.

Mangan presented a rededication plaque to Nathan Sommons and Alfred Bea, the Ravines park manager and assistant park manager, respectively.

Bea said that with the park's nearly two-mile road and other structures being built around a natural setting, the park staff constantly notices new things.

"This park is built on a living ravine, which means it's constantly moving," Bea said. "We enjoy seeing the work that was done, and we are discovering new things every day."

During the rededication ceremony, there were numerous speakers, including state Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights.

Van Zant, who received his bachelor's degree in architecture, praised the Ravines, the architects present and the architectural field itself.

"I have a deep reverence for every aspect of our profession," said Van Zant, who said he still considers himself an architect.

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Man and Nature: Landscape architects honor 1930s efforts

Centerbrook Architects has landed its first assignment in China: designing the interior spaces for a sprawling, one-million-square-foot prep school in Beijing.

But the Essex-based firm won't step foot in the country to do it.

"As much as we would love to visit China, to walk the site and to meet with the stakeholders in person, as we normally do," said Centerbrook partner Mark Simon, "our assignment in this case is to communicate and design via long distance on a fast track pace."

That means using Go-To-Meeting, Skype and Newforma to share complex design files. And surprisingly, the time difference isn't a problem.

"We can send materials out in the evening, and the response from team members in China is waiting for us when we turn on our computers the next morning," Simon said.

Keystone Academy, about the size of The Shoppes at Buckland Hills mall in Manchester, is modeled after the New England prep schools. The bilingual school is intended to prepare students in China for education in American and other English-speaking universities, while allowing them to remain at home.

Centerbrook began working on designs for 750,000-square-feet of interior space after construction on the building had already begun. Plans call for 103 classrooms, student and faculty housing for 1,000, three libraries, a student center, athletic facilities and administrative offices.

Construction is on the fast-track: classes in grades 1-9 will begin in 2014, followed by grades 10-12 by 2017. The school's development is being led by Edward Shanahan, the former Headmaster at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford.

Shanahan's knowledge of prep school curriculum and culture was key to his selection as the school's president. He also was instrumental in marshaling expertise from the United States, including the choice of Centerbrook.

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Architects Skype Their Way In Designing Chinese Prep School

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/zr5mp4/architects_in_the) has announced the addition of the "Architects in the US" report to their offering.

Best laid plans: Growth in new building construction will pave the way for a recovery

Executive Summary

The Architects industry derives the bulk of its revenue from non-residential building design. Only a small share of revenue is derived from contracts in the housing construction market; however, many small, regionally based contractors rely on the residential real estate market. Revenue is generated from fee-based contracts from preplanning and design services for construction and building projects. In the five years to 2012, IBISWorld estimates that industry revenue will decrease 2.6% annually to $42.4 billion. Industry growth slowed during the recession due to a deteriorating construction market and a decline in the number of building projects being planned. Further, business bankruptcies and pre-recession overbuilding have caused an oversupply of commercial and industrial real estate. The residential real estate market has also contracted dramatically, with the number of housing starts plummeting during the last five years.

Revenue is expected to increase 4.0% in 2012 due to marginal improvements in downstream construction markets. Profit margins are expected to increase to 7.5% in 2012, which is up from 6.6% in 2011. However, profit remains below prerecession levels. To maintain margins, many large firms have taken cost-cutting measures, such as laying off workers and cutting wages.

About half of industry establishments are sole proprietors or partnerships that do not have any employees; however, these nonemployers generate just 6.4% of total revenue. Small players were particularly hurt by the downturn because of their reliance on the residential real estate market. Further, they have fewer variable costs to cut than their big-name counterparts. Many of these small operators left the industry during the recession, causing the number of firms to fall 0.9% annually to 99,731 in the five years to 2012. Over the next five years, the industry will benefit from improvement in downstream industries. The volume of residential and nonresidential construction projects will increase as access to credit becomes more readily available for clients. While revenue is projected to grow 4.1% annually to $51.8 billion in the five years to 2017, it will not surpass the industry's 2008 peak until 2015. Profit margins are also expected to rise during the next five years, as more projects are put into firms' pipelines.

Key Topics Covered:

About This Industry

Industry At A Glance

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Research and Markets: Architects in the US - Revenue projected to grow 4.1% annually to 2017

The Utah American Institute of Architects awards are a group of prestigious prizes presented each year to architects designing outstanding buildings across the state. This year for the first time, the local section of the organization will celebrate its fifth anniversary and hold an award banquet on Sept. 20.

Bruce Fallon is the current president of the AIA Central Utah section which includes Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah, Carbon, Juab and Sanpete counties. It is one of three state sections; the other two cover the northern and southern areas of Utah.

"We wanted to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the Central Utah section," Fallon said. "We invited our 30 members working locally to submit their designs and had 17 respondents. Since the state competition had 27 entries from the entire state it was a very good response."

Architects from the Utah County area have not typically submitted designs to the Utah competition and Fallon hopes with a local competition in place, that more will send in entries to the state.

"We have very talented architects here and we hope that our competition will allow them to take their project to the state level, and even on to regional and national competitions," Fallon said. "There is a lot of preparation in submitting and it is a learning process for those doing it for the first time."

"Many architects do more work outside of our area and unfortunately many local projects are not done by local architects. People may notice their favorite building is not one of the winners and wonder why it didn't win but it was likely because it was designed by a firm out of this area," he said. "The three new buildings built here in Provo for example were not designed here in Utah Valley. The Nu Skin building was designed in Seattle, the Utah Valley Convention Center was designed by Populous in St. Louis and the Provo Recreation Center was by a Salt Lake City firm."

Scott Jensen, former president of the central Utah section, agreed with Fallon that getting the word out about local architects and what they can do is a challenge. Jensen is the chairman of the first design competition for Central Utah architects.

"One of the things we run into in the area is recognizing what a good design is," Jensen said. "Hopefully we can raise the quality of our designs and educate clients about what we have to offer. Some of the projects submitted to the design competition were very innovative in how they used light and color and technology which are very important elements."

Judges for the competition were Ken Naylor, a retired architect from Naylor, Wentworth and Lund and former National Council of Architectural Registration Boards president; R.K. Stewart, former national president of AIA whose experience included 20 years as an architect with Gensler in San Francisco; and Jim Lewis, an architect with FFKR in Salt Lake City. All three judges have had experience with design projects in Utah County and provided a local, regional and national perspective in the judging.

Jensen had the opportunity to sit with the three judges as they discussed the submissions. Designs do not compete against each other, but are judged individually according to specific parameters. There are two levels of awards; the honor award and the merit award.

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Utah County architects compete for design awards

Five thousand years ago, the Egyptians used reef knots to fasten their belts. In the first century, Greek physicians employed both reef knots and clove hitches to tie surgical nooses. Today, these ancient knots are coming in handy on Mars.

On the decks of NASA's Curiosity rover, some of the most advanced pieces of equipment ever developed are being held together by some of the oldest forms of human technology: cleverly looped ropes. Apparently, when you're sending a robot millions of miles out of reach, time-tested tying methods win out over newfangled epoxies or ratchet zip ties.

Knot enthusiasts at the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) Forum have analyzed color photos that the Martian rover recently took of the equipment on its decks. As PopSci.com reports, the photos reveal some intricate knot work.

According to knot aficionado David Fred, NASA engineers appear to have primarily employed the "spot tie" on the Curiosity rover a combination of a clove hitch and a reef knot that works both to bind cables and affix cable bundles to tie-down points. The spot tie is a knot of choice in space missions, Fred explained, because it applies even pressure on bound material without getting overly tight.

"The inner profile of the clove hitch is smooth," Fred wrote on the IGKT Forum."Both turns bear on the bound object evenly throughout their contact. The contact area is increased by having two turns. When the reef knot is added, the ends are pulled up and away from the object. There is some extra pressure exerted by the reef knot on the riding turn, but this is distributed onto the two underlying turns." [The Mysterious Physics of 7 Everyday Things]

Furthermore, the knot remains secure without constricting cables or wearing them down over time, as zip ties are prone to do.

Fred noted that knots have almost always had a place in interplanetary missions. "If human civilization ends tomorrow, interplanetary landers, orbiters and deep space probes will preserve evidence of both the oldest and newest of human technologies for millions of years," Fred wrote.

The ongoing use of this proven technology, he continued, "is a testament to the effectiveness of properly chosen knots tied by skilled craftspeople."

This story was provided byLife's Little Mysteries, a sister site to SPACE.com. Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyoveror Life's LittleMysteries @llmysteries. We're also onFacebook&Google+.

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Ancient Knots Keep Mars Rover's Laces Tied on Red Planet

As the flood waters recede, cattle huddle on front porches and cats ride away in canoes.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, was hit hard by Hurricane Isaac, but it's on the road to recovery. On Labor Day, the first convoys of utility trucks were finally able to make their way down Highway 23, the only road that travels the length of the parish on the west bank. Large swaths of the road remained impassable, forcing the trucks to make frequent detours onto the Mississippi River levee. Residents who fled the west bank were also allowed to drive along the levee at designated times for a first look at the damage.

On the east bank, in Braithwaite and Scarsdale, flood water remains. Don Duplantier rode out the storm at his house until he was rescued by boat. He now says he was lulled into a false sense of security when Isaac was predicted to be a category 1 storm. In fact, Isaac hit Plaquemines Parish harder than Katrina did, lingering for hours and flooding streets and homes with a powerful storm surge. After his own rescue, Duplantier used a pirogue to return for his cats (he still can't convince one of them to come out of hiding) and pick up the clothes his family needs for his son's upcoming wedding.

On the west bank, cattle and horses scattered to find higher ground when Isaac flooded their pastures. Hundreds are dead; others are being rounded up and rescued. The National Guard is dropping hay for the surviving livestock while cajun cowboys rustle up the remaining cows along Highway 23. The recovery continues -- as does the hurricane season, which still has months to go.

Originally posted here:
Eerie Visions on Highway 23 After Hurricane Isaac

by Rick Broida, PCWorld

Editors Note: The following article is reprinted from the Simply Business blog at PCWorld.com.

If slide decks are part of your daily routine, you know what a hassle it can be to show them from a laptop: You have to connect a projector, wait an eternity for the PC to boot, run PowerPoint, load your slide deck, switch the laptop's video output to projector mode, and so on and so on. You can blow 10 to 20 minutes just getting set up for your presentation, which is not what I would call a productive use of your time.

Last year, SlideShark introduced an iPad app for viewing PowerPoint slides. Wednesday, the company unveiled SlideShark for iPhone, an app that effectively puts your presentations in your pocket.

Like the iPad version, the new app combines software and service. Both are free, though you'll have to see if you can get by on the 100MB of storage afforded by the Starter account. If not, pro-level plans start at $49 per year.

After installing the app and signing up for a SlideShark account (something you can do right inside the app, if you prefer), you simply upload a presentation file, and then wait a few minutes while the service optimizes it for iDevice viewing. SlideShark supports both .ppt and .pptx files.

Once that procedure is complete, you fire up the app and choose the presentation(s) you want to download. I like that SlideShark stores the presentations on your iPhone (or iPad) so you can run them offlineno Internet connection required.

You can review your slides on your iPhone, zooming as necessary for better views of the content, but obviously the real draw is connecting your iPhone directly to a TV or projector. For that you'll need Apples $29 Dock Connector to VGA Adapter or $39 Digital AV Adapter.

As with the iPad app, there are a few limitations. SlideShark doesn't support hyperlinks, embedded videos, slide transitions, and other fancy effects. In other words, you're stuck with fairly static slides (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The app does promise to preserve all fonts, images, and colors, plus some animations.

In my brief, informal tests, SlideShark did a great job converting most of my presentations. Your mileage may vary, especially with odd-sized slides, so be sure to spot-check any important presentations before actually, you know, presenting them.

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SlideShark puts PowerPoint in your pocket

BEVERLY HILLS - An off-duty Beverly Hills police officer was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after he crashed a pickup truck into a telephone pole, a house and a retaining wall in Simi Valley, police said Wednesday. | POLICE NEWS

The crash happened at 10:22 p.m. Tuesday on Royal Avenue near Blackstock Avenue, said Simi Valley police Sgt. Greg Dungan. The pickup came to rest on its roof atop the retaining wall, he said.

The crash caused the rupture of a natural gas line, prompting the evacuation of two homes until a fire crew shut the line off, Dungan said.

The officer, identified as Jeffrey Sweet, 42, of Simi Valley, was taken to a hospital after complaining of pain and was later arrested after investigating officers spoke with him and suspected he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he said.

Sweet was booked into Ventura County Jail, according to Dungan, who said representatives from the Beverly Hills Police Department responded and assisted in the investigation.

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Off-duty officer arrested on suspicion of DUI after crashing in Simi Valley

Carmi Martin on her search for a partner: Pinagdaanan ko na yung gumulung-gulong ako, umiyak ako, and everything just to find the right guy.

Papasok na si Carmi Martin bilang kontrabidang si Divine sa 3rd generation ng Luna Blanca.

Makakasama ni Carmi sa third book ng Luna Blanca sina Heart Evangelista at Bianca King na gaganap sa twin title roles.

Kasama rin sa cast sina Christopher de Leon, Mark Herras, at Lani Mercado.

Sa presscon ng Luna Blanca noong Martes ng hapon sa mezzanine ng Imperial Palace Suites, nakausap ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) si Carmi.

Ikinagulat daw ni Carmi ang pagpasok sa teleserye dahil wala nang pasakalye pa ang pagiging kontrabida niya.

Sabi niya, Actually, noong binasa ko yung script, sabi ko, Aba! Okey 'to! Hindi man lamang unti-unti? Bad kaagad!

Hindi man lamang nag-isip-isip. Talaga namang doon sa sukdulan kaagad.

Ang ibig sabihin, hindi na kailangang i-workshop pa ang character niya dahil bihasa na siya ganitong mga role.

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Carmi Martin on her search for a partner: “Pinagdaanan ko na yung gumulung-gulong ako, umiyak ako, and everything just ...

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Information Architects Corporation (IACH) announced today that the corporation continues to strengthen its long term revenue position via its wholly owned subsidiary Miami Prevention & Kidney Center. In addition to the progress on the development of the first treatment facility, IACH has located two more locations that suit the necessary operating requirements. Potential revenues are expected to increase to an estimated $2,250,000 per quarter, with all three locations developed and operational within the next 18 to 24 months. The long term goal, which would be over the next 24 to 36 months, is to fund and develop 15 centers. IACH is continuing to focus on strong, long term foundation development specifically designed to build the core value of the company. IACH is aggressively developing similar relationships in the Insurance Industry that will focus on real assets and real value. IACH is now positioned, after a complete internal restructuring, to morph into an attractive new business and general expansion partner in a wide variety of Medical and Health related Industries.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Information Architects Corp. (IACH) is a worldwide Marketing and Distribution company.

"Forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Information Architects Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions (including in the information technology and financial information industry), actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies, and the purchasing activity or lack thereof by registered web mall members.

*For more information contact Benchmark @ 858-568-7059

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Information Architects Corporation successfully expanding into the Medical and Health Industry