Evanston Now | Recap: Administration and Public Works Committee | Evanston Now Evanston Now Here's a recap of our live coverage of this evening's Evanston City Council Administration and Public Works Committee meeting. The meeting is scheduled to ... |
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Recap: Administration and Public Works Committee | Evanston Now - Evanston Now
Just over ten years ago, Mike Evans and Matt Maloney were trying to get their idea for a new startup off the ground to enable you to order food from your computer. That idea was GrubHub which took off with the launch of mobile apps, grew to merge with its largest competitor, and eventually had a $192M IPO.
Here we are a decade later, after some time off to bike across the countryand write science fiction, GrubHub cofounderMike Evans is at it again. This time its the launch ofFixer, a startup looking to make it easier to find and order, not food, but a handyman. As explained on their website:
Fixer is a right nowhandyman service. We are at your door within an hour and charge a flat hourly rate for all services.
Weve all been there, looking for a reliable handyman is not an easy endeavor. You might look to Yelp or ask your friends who they use, or you might even try Taskrabbit all with variable levels of success.Fixer is looking to help change that by creating an army of full-time fixers. Their goal is to hire apprentice level fixers, increase their skills through training and apprenticeship, and then retain them with a fair wage and benefits. This means Fixer will have employees rather than contractors thus helping to create a career path for gig-economy workers.
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, fixers have completed about 200 jobs so far, including some for repeat customers. Fixer is currently open in Chicago by invite only you can sign up for a beta accountafter a beta launch yesterday.
Read more about startups emerging in Chicago at Tech.Co
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Grubhub Cofounder Mike Evans Launches Fixer To Find You A Handyman - Tech.Co
It may sound weird, but the most part of success in replacing new windows in your house is their correct installation. We are going to tell you about some significant aspects you should pay attention to if you made up your mind to replace your old PVC windows with new ones.
You might ask yourself what an energy efficient window is and what the advantages are. We will try to answer all your questions.
Replacing windows
First of all, you should calculate the cost of windows with several airbags, ultraglass and other additions.
It is important rely on professionals
At the initial request, a quantity surveyor is obliged to inspect your window opening and advise you which profile options can be used (usually a few, from an economy option to a more expensive one), and also tell how to prepare a window for installation.
Preparing for installation
Do not forget that the installation of windows is a rather dirty matter (dirty mainly because you have to drill walls and break old frames). It is better to maximize the space to protect your things. If there are some things that cannot be taken out, you should cover them with a protective film.
Before dismantling the old windows, the installer always measures the finished windows according to the size of the window openings and checks against the previous calculations.
After dismantling the window opening should be clean. All chips and potholes in the wall must be sealed, otherwise air can get into these joints. Before installing the vinyl windows, the opening is wetted with water for better adhesion or processed with a special primer.
Correct installation of the frame in the opening
The frames of new windows are set either on bolts or anchor plates. It depends on the technical characteristics of the opening. The installation should be monitored in three planes. These ones should not go beyond 1.5 mm per 1 meter of length.
Filling the assembly seam
It may seem simple at first glance. However, the work should be done very carefully. The window frame is fixed with wedges. You should drill holes for fixing very carefully, so as not to damage the profile.
Adjusting the fittings
Proper adjustment of the fittings ensures you that in a half of a year months your windows will not start to sag at the opening and I will still be snug. Adjustment is subject to a swivel-tilt mechanism and loops, the worker with the hexagon will reliably adjust all the parts and show how to transfer the windows into winter and summer mode
Cleaning after installation
Everything is ready, the windows are installed, but there is garbage and old frames left. The installers will take out heavy garbage and old windows from the apartment.
Before signing the acceptance certificate, make sure that the windows and window sills (if you installed them) are clean, the protective film that they originally covered is removed, the glasses must be clean.
We are sure that our windows replacing tips will help you.
The Bellingham Herald | Sandy Point burn ban planned after Independence Day | The ... The Bellingham Herald Despite two days of record heat last weekend, temperatures remain near normal and no areas of Whatcom County are under burn bans. |
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Sandy Point burn ban planned after Independence Day | The ... - The Bellingham Herald
REDLANDS >> Fred and Barbara Ford recently donated a granite hitching post to the Museum of Redlands.
Fred Fords career in Redlands and the Inland Valley in the past 40 years has been in land clearing.
In the 1970s, when the former Jennie Davis-Joe Prendergast house was being moved from Brookside Avenue in Redlands to Sierra Way in Fontana, Ford helped the contractors clear the property, and he retrieved the granite hitching posts from the site.
An apartment complex was then built on that property, which is about 10 lots west of the former Redlands Daily Facts building on Brookside Avenue. The former Facts building will be renovated to house the Museum of Redlands.
The donation of the hitching post has other historic relevance in addition to the post having come from a site near the future museum building.
Fred Ford is the grandson of Isaac Ford, who was city engineer for Redlands, one of the founders of First Baptist Church and the University of Redlands and for whom Redlands Ford Park and Ford Street are named.
Connected to the house that was moved from Brookside Avenue is Jennie Davis daughter Gwen Davis, who married Joe Prendergast. Prendergasts sister was Lucretia Prendergast Moore, who was the wife of wife of Paul Moore, longtime owner of the Redlands Daily Facts.
Lucretia Moore was also the mother of William G. Moore, 40-year publisher and co-owner of the Facts with his brother Frank, and grandmother of Lucretia Moore Irving, who still lives in Redlands.
Bill and Frank Moore owned the Redlands Daily Facts when they had the former Facts building, future home of the Museum of Redlands, built in 1956.
A number of hitching posts still remain in Redlands, but seeing one out of the ground with its hewn-granite base is unusual.
Fred Ford, one of five generations of Fords in Redlands and of four generations who graduated from Redlands High School, noted that hitching posts were hewn from solid granite and often have hairline cracks, making them fragile to move.
The one the Fords donated to the Museum of Redlands has a decorative ball on the top of the post.
Horses were tethered to an iron ring inserted in the hole drilled through the top of each post.
To donate historic items related to Redlands and the Redlands area, contact Maria Carrillo or Nathan Gonzales at the A.K. Smiley Library Heritage Room, 909-798-7632.
Source: Museum of Redlands
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Hitching post donated to Museum of Redlands - Redlands Daily Facts
Around the world, the amount of land being burned in wildfires is declining and human activity is largely the cause, scientists say. According to a new study, out Thursday in the journal Science, global burned area has declined by nearly a quarter in the past two decades. The surprisingdecreaseoccurred largely as agriculture has expanded and intensified throughout the world, taking over many of the natural areas where wildfires commonly occur.
While many recent studies have suggested that climate change will cause longer and more intense fire seasons in certain parts of the world recent research has suggested that its been making wildfires in the western United Statesmore intense for decades the new study indicates thathuman land-use changes also have a significant impact on when and where fires occur. In many places, the influence of human land use is simply just stronger than the climate signal, said the new studys lead author,Niels Andela, a research scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.
This work highlights how humans can shape global fire regimes,David Bowman, a global wildfire expert and professor of environmental-change biology at the University of Tasmania who was not involved with the research, said in an email. Realistically factoring in humans into global climate change and global carbon dynamic projections has always been difficult, and this work demonstrates that this difficulty must be more thoroughly addressed to create plausible scenarios of Earth system change.
The researcherscame to their conclusions by analyzing satellite data on burned area across the planet between 1998 and 2015. During this period, they found that burned area declined about 24 percent an enormous area, according to Andela with much of the decrease occurring in the worlds grasslands and savannas.
The researchers alsoused a model to investigate the effectof factors such as precipitation and human activities on the global fire patterns. They found that precipitation had little influenceon the long-term decline in global burned area but human activity, and particularly agriculture, was a strong driver.
In some places, particularly tropical forest landscapes, the researchers found that agricultural activity was actually associated with an increase in fires, probably as a result of agricultural waste burning or deforestation to make room for cropland. But these increases were outweighed by the areas whereagriculture was associated with a reduction in burned area, mainly in grassland and savanna landscapes, where theres less biomass available to burn and where fire may be less necessary as a land-clearing or management tool.
The researchers found that fire reductions were particularly pronounced in placeswith greater socioeconomic development and higher investment in their pastures and croplands. Wealthier areas maybe less inclined to risk their crops, livestock, homes and infrastructure by using fire as a management tool, the researchers suggest, and the people living in these places also may be less likely to accept the poor air quality caused by smoke from wildfires. In fact, they may begin to employ fire suppression tactics to prevent natural wildfires from occurring.
These global fire reductions may come with pros and cons, the researchers note. For one thing, fire is a natural elementof manyecosystems life cycles, helping to recycle nutrients, regulate competition amongtypes of plants and make space for new growth. So suppressingwildfires can actually have a negative impact on a landscapes vegetation and biodiversity.
On the other hand, the researchers note that a reduction in fire also comes witha declinein the carbon emissions it produces, which could be helpful in the fight against climate change. That said, theres the potential that the carbon releasedby the land conversion and agricultural expansion driving these declines may actually offset the reduction infire emissions. A great deal more research will be necessary before scientists can say for sure how all of these changes are affecting the global carbon cycle, Andela said.
And Bowman, the University of Tasmania scientist, also pointed out that this study should not be construed as suggesting the global wildfire crisis is being resolved. Even while burned area is declining on a global scale, human management techniques such as starting fires where they dont belong and suppressing them where they might otherwise naturally occur may actually be priming many landscapes for more-extreme wildfires in the future. Fire suppression, in particular, can sometimes lead to an overabundance of dry fuel in certain areas, and these unburned spacesmay eventually burn ferociously under hotter and drier conditions expected by climate change, Bowman suggested.
Andela also added that overall I wouldnt describe our findings as being a positive thing for the Earth system or global ecosystems. The spread of agriculture and the decrease in natural burning, particularly in grassland ecosystems worldwide, is indicative ofthe profound changes taking place in these natural landscapes, he said.
Thedisappearance of fire from those ecosystemsreally symbolizeshow we are using these last wildernessesof the Earth, he said.
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Scientists find a surprising result on global wildfires: They're actually burning less land - Washington Post
 Financial News (subscription) | Euro-clearing land grabbers can still return under a new name Financial News (subscription) Maybe the EU27 will recognise that if they try to grab business from the City on the back of Brexit they will shoot themselves in the foot. Maybe there really is a chance of a deal that preserves much of the City's access to EU markets in return for ... |
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Washington: The US state department has issued the necessary license for the export of 22 predator Guardian drones to India, a government source here said, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump had their first bilateral meeting at the White House.
The state department has "issued the DSP-5 Guardian export licence" for India, the source told PTI. A DSP-5 category licence is issued for permanent export of military hardware as found in the US Munitions List, which is defined by the International Traffic Arms Regulations.
The Guardian drones will enhance India's maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean region and their sale was announced by Trump on 26 June after he met Modi for their first face-to-face meeting.
The deal is one of the key takeaways from the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump meet in Washington last month. PTI file image
The drones are estimated to cost around $2 billion and are being built by General Atomics, considered a pioneer in the unmanned aerial vehicles domain. The speed with which the Trump administration decided on India's request for the drones, the source said, is reflective of the desire in White House to strengthen India's military capabilities in the Indo-Asia Pacific region, where China's aggressive diplomatic and military posture has unnerved other countries.
"We are extremely pleased that Trump and Modi have had excellent deliberations and the path forward for a game-changer in US-India defence relations has been charted," said Vivek Lall of General Atomics.
Lall, who in his previous capacity at Boeing, was instrumental in the sale of high-tech military hardware to India, is believed to have played a role in convincing the Trump administration to accelerate the sale of the drones. "Given the Sea Guardian's capabilities, such a response to the Indian Navy's request demonstrates a major change in US policy as this type of aircraft capability is only exported to a very select few of America's closest defence partners," he said.
"This represents tangible implementation of US Congress' designation of India as a 'Major Defence Partner'," said Lall.
On Tuesday, Lall met US vice-president Mike Pence on the sidelines of the annual US-India Business Council summit, when Pence endorsed the deal to provide India with Apache attack helicopters, C-17 transport aircraft, besides the drones. The deal is seen as the biggest tangible takeaway from the Trump-Modi meeting towards the operationalisation of the major defence partner relationship.
The Indian Navy requested for the drones early last year. But no tangible action was taken under the previous Obama administration, apparently because of the stiff opposition from the state department, which argued that this could upset Pakistan, America's ally in war against terror in Afghanistan.
The Trump White House spearheaded the inter-agency process to make a significant policy change in favour of India by granting this technology based on government-to-government interactions, the source told PTI.
India had been eyeing the Predator technology for years, and it was only the Trump-Modi combination that they were able to move the decision to this point, the source said. Pakistan is said to be actively lobbying Washington against the sale of the drones to India. However, the White House overruled all objections, paving the way for a new phase of India-US defence relationship.
THE winner of this years Young Landscape Architect Award, Siti Maisarah Salahudin, hopes to be a role model and inspire young landscape architects, especially women, to further contribute to the profession and the community.
The award was presented to Siti Maisarah, 35, at the 9th Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards organised by the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) in April in conjunction with World Landscape Architecture month.
Im passionate about landscape architecture because it is all about engaging people with spaces. I want to change the common perception that landscape architecture is about planting trees, and that landscape architects are glorified gardeners.
I find this offensive, because our scope is beyond that.
As stewards of the land, we design the landscape by taking into consideration all aspects to create a conducive living environment, which strikes the right balance between the natural and built environment for the people, said Siti Maisarah, who is an associate with Walrus Designs Sdn Bhd.
ILAM is Malaysias national professional association for landscape architects.
It aims to raise the visibility of the profession to larger audiences and promote the role of landscape architects in the outdoor built environment, through activities, seminars, conferences, awards and public awareness campaigns.
Siti Maisarah received her degree in Landscape Architecture from Universiti Putra Malaya (UPM) in 2006. She has 10 years of work experience with a range of landscape companies under her belt, including Walrus Design Sdn Bhd and Tropicana Corporation Berhad.
She has been involved in high-end projects, including hotels, townships, commercial, institutional and residential projects and parks.
As president of UPMs Alumni Club of the Faculty of Design and Architecture (Kasel), she spearheaded the publication of a book, titled 35 Landscape Architects Entrepreneurs to showcase the alumnis achievements and inspire other landscape architects.
To be a career woman, wife and mother of two, is no easy task. My early career was the toughest for me. There were never-ending deadlines, work and family responsibilities which consumed a lot of time.
I still regret not having spent enough time with my late father because I was too busy working, and seldom had time to balik kampung.
It is important to strike the right balance between your personal and work life.
Never ever give up, and strive to do your best. Before you step into the reality of working life, you need to be mentally prepared for whatever challenges you might face in the future.
Remember, every profession has its own challenges.
Another landscape architect, Nurulhuda Hayati Ibrahim, 52, said there were more women architects today than before.
To be successful in this field, you must have the right mindset and work attitude.
If you are eager to work hard and are receptive to learning on the job while working on projects, you will improve greatly on other skills and techniques that textbooks cannot teach you.
The hands-on experience of working in a team will allow you to interact better with different parties, involved in the execution of a project, she said.
The principal landscape architect and owner of Landskap has been in the industry for 21 years and has been involved in many landscape architectural projects, in the public and private sectors.
They include Taman Putra Perdana, Putrajaya, Commonwealth Hill Park at Kompleks Sukan Negara and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
When she first started out as a landscape architect in the early 1990s, Malaysia was recovering from the 1988 recession and the landscape architecture industry was in its infancy.
After completing my masters and bachelors degrees in landscape architecture in Harvard Graduate School of Design and Utah State University in 1990 and 1988, I asked a friend how the job situation was at home.
She told me to be prepared to knock on doors for employment.
I was lucky that I didnt have to wait long before a company offered me a job.
My first pay cheque was for RM1,400.
I considered myself lucky because some graduates were forced to work for RM900 just to earn an income.
But by 1993, things had started to pick up.
After working for a year with her employer, some colleagues invited her to join them to start their own company.
It was a steep learning curve; something I wouldnt advise a newly-qualified person to do in a hurry.
Take at least three or four years to work for a mentor, because when you first start out, you will be making so many mistakes along the way.
Learn from the mistakes before starting your own firm.
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'Landscape architects are not glorified gardeners' - New Straits Times Online
MILFORD, Pa. A unique look at the early 20th century landscape design and vision at Grey Towers National Historic Site, Milford, Pa., will be the focus of a free lecture and walk on July 8, beginning at 4 p.m.
Reservations are suggested as seating is limited.
Author and landscape architect Bibi Gaston will present the lecture "Cornelia Pinchots Farm to Table: Birds, Bees and Guernseys." She will include a discussion of various landscape features on the estate grounds, including apiaries, plantings, stonework, cows and game birds. The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in the tented Pool Terrace behind the mansion.
At 5:30 p.m. Gaston will lead a brief walk about the grounds, pointing out some of the landscape features that will be discussed in her program.
Complimentary refreshments will be provided by the Grey Towers Heritage Association and there will be an opportunity to meet with Gaston. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes for uneven terrain.
Cornelia Pinchot began making changes to the landscape surrounding the Grey Towers mansion after 1914, when she married Gifford Pinchot, conservationist and two-term governor of Pennsylvania. Today some of her landscape designs are the most popular features at the National Historic Site.
For more information or to make a reservation, call 570-296-9625 or send an email to info@greytowers.org.
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Farm to Table: Explore the landscape at Grey Towers - Times Herald-Record
