Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Year built 1960/renovated 2014

Taxes $3,300 (2021 estimate)

Sitting on a corner lot in downtown Nantucket (an island and town of the same name), this single-family is encased in cedar shingles, has a driveway and pathways of brick, and grounds graced by hydrangeas, rose of Sharon, and salvia.

Inside, there is the requisite amount of Nantucket bead board, of course.

At the entrance, a green door with bulls-eye glass fills the foyer with natural light. To the right, one finds the living area and kitchen seamlessly connected with aqua paint, bead-board wainscoting, and hardwood flooring. No support columns interfere with the progression. The living area has three windows.

In the kitchen, an island installed perpendicularly provides physical and visual separation from the living area. Topped with granite, the island offers seating for at least six. The raised-panel cabinets are white, the appliances are stainless steel, and the backsplash is a white subway tile. A door opens to the Barnabas Lane side of the house.

A hallway off the kitchen leads to the dining area and the family room, which are connected with hardwood flooring and a light-aqua paint color. There is no bead-board wainscoting in this space. The dining area sits next to a slider to a cedar deck and underneath a chandelier of shaded lights. The family room (as does much of the house) has recessed lighting augmented by a plethora of windows.

The full bath is the final stop on this floor. It has a shower with its walls and ceiling clad in subway tile with a sandy-colored grout and a pebblestone floor, as well as a single vanity topped with granite. The flooring in the bath is tile.

The upper level of the expanded and renovated home contains the owner suite, a full bath, and two bedrooms.

The owners suite has a drum shade light, hardwood flooring, and three large windows, one of which is nestled into an alcove that can accommodate a desk. One passes a line of closets before entering the en-suite bath, which comes with a wide single vanity. The vanity, floor, and shower are clad in marble, and the space has shiplap wainscoting.

The larger of the secondary bedrooms comes with a closet behind a pair of bifold doors and two windows, including one in an alcove with a bench. The other bedroom offers a closet behind a single bifold door, a drum shade light, and two windows.

Nantucket bead-board wainscoting graces the walls of the shared bath. It also has a floating white single vanity topped with marble, a ceramic hexagon tile floor, and a shower clad in subway tile in a brick stack installation.

The lower level is furnished with pops of blue that remind guests they are by the sea. This level contains the final bedroom, the laundry room, utility space, and a game room large enough for a Ping-Pong table and a gathering spot created by a pair of couches. The space has recessed lighting, shiplap walls, and two windows. The biggest opens into a window well with a ladder. The bedroom is a bunk room with a window that opens into a window well with a ladder.

Outside the home, there is an enclosed shower.

The homeowners association comprises three units, according to the owner. The condo featured here covers about half of the shared lot. The other two units, located in a duplex, share 25 percent, and the rest is held in common.

Nonie Slavitz of William Raveis Nantucket has the listing.

See more photos of the property below:

Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter@JREbosglobe.Send listings to[emailprotected].Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes and will not respond to submissions we wont pursue. Subscribe to our newsletter atpages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp.Follow us onFacebook,LinkedIn,Instagram,and Twitter@globehomes.

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Home of the Week: A move-in ready 4-bedroom in heart of Nantucket - Boston.com

Cai Guo-Qiang is no stranger to spectacle.

The Chinese artist, who is known for his explosive fireworks displays and daring experiments with gunpowder, served as the director of visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His work acrossdrawing, installation, video, and performancehas been variously honored with the Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Biennale, to the U.S. National Medal of Arts.

For his latest act, Cai has opened a major exhibition to inaugurate the Museum of Art Pudong (M.A.P.) in Shanghai. Titled Odyssey and Homecoming, the exhibition spans three floors of the Jean Nouvel-designedmuseum, and includes 119 of his signature gunpowder paintings, as well as an overview of his long-running dialogue with Western art history.

The artist,who has been based in New York since 1995, is also marking his homecoming to Shanghai, where he studied stage design in the 1980s, by debuting his first-ever VR work and a new kinetic light installation about extraterrestrial life.

We caught up with Cai about his homecoming and his interest in cosmology.

Cai Gui-Qiang, Color Gunpowder Drawing for City of Flowers in the Sky. Exhibition view at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Mengjia Zhao, courtesy Cai Studio.

Your exhibition Odyssey and Homecoming opened this month at the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai. Can you tell me about your relationship with the city?

Shanghai was my first port of departure. I savored the paints of the Shanghai art supplies factory in the early 70s. I left my hometown for the first time in 1978 and stole a ride on the coal train to Shanghai to see aFrench 19th-century rural Landscape paintingexhibition, which was also the first time I saw originals by foreign painters in person. I have a strong memory of this exhibition. It opened the door to drastically different artistic styles for me, which was deeply affecting.

In the early 80s, I left Quanzhou to study at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. At one point, I felt pity that I was studying stage design rather than studying fine arts the Academy of Fine Arts. I was actually very lucky because at that time, the Academy of Fine Arts was quite conservative. It focused on traditional sketching and plastic-art training, and maintained that artistic training should serve bigger political purposes. On the contrary, the Theatre Academy was more experimental.

Can you tell us about any mentors you had there who influenced the way you think?

Zhou Benyi, my teacher in the department of stage design, had a great impact on me. He was the only one in Shanghai who had studied oil painting at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute. Aside from his solid painting skills, he emphasized the importance of concepts and forms after a trip to the U.S., where he had been invited by the U.S. Information Agency shortly after Chinese economic reform. In a sense, we were his lab rats for educational reform, as he was exploring the path while teaching us. Under his guidance, we turned to contemplating how and why we create. It enlightened me. Using Shakespeares plays as metaphor, the scripted story is always there, but the key is how you interpret it, what you want to say about it, and how to enact it.

My training at the Theatre Academy also led me to focus on the fluidity of time, multimedia materials, and spatial construction, as well as the spirit of collaborative work. As a result, this experience unintentionally laid a solid foundation for my career as a contemporary artist. Mr. Zhou was always strict with me, and never gave me an easy pass on my proposals. Sometimes he had me redo them five or six times. Later he told me it was because he wanted to see what other surprises and ideas I could offer and what other tricks I could do.

This pursuit of novelty and innovation motivated me to secretly experiment with gunpowder as an artistic medium while I was still a college student. Shanghai was practically the embodiment of Western culture for methe Bund, the sycamore trees, the Bai Du Bridge, and especially those iconic churches, which are also the subjects of some of my early paintings.

Cai Guo-Qiang, Transience II (Peony). Exhibition view at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

The exhibition includes 119 of your gunpowder paintings. How has the way you think about these works changed since you first began making them decades ago?

Gunpowder has a life of its own. The question has always been: how can I fully present its vitality and the charisma of its spirit? The uncontrollability does not just lie in the material itselfgunpowder brings out the uncontrollable side in me! If I dont lose control, neither will gunpowder.

As I gain experience manipulating gunpowder, the need for losing control grows stronger. With more experience and better understanding of the material, the fireworks themselves becomes more controllable. Ultimately the gunpowder is there to explode and unleash me, not only to explode the painting surface.

Exhibition view of A Material Odyssey, a Getty Conservation Institute research exhibition at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

As part of the exhibition, you have recreated your Individuals Journey Through Western Art History for a Chinese audience. What is different about this audience, and how did you adapt the work?

I first had the idea of embarking on a journey through Western art history when I was young. Throughout the journey, I let the spirit and creativity of the master artists cultivate my own qi, and in doing so, I tried to confront the difficulties in contemporary painting. I think dialoguing with different chapters of Western art is to pay respect to, and at the same time decentralize the West. When this exhibition tours to China, I believe it in a sense challenges the Sino-centric view, and pursues a kind of liberty and equality, because it advocates for the idea of inheriting all civilizations in mankinds history as our united heritage.

This exhibition was first held at the Palace Museum last December at the four major galleries of the Meridian Gate. These are works I created along my odyssey, for exhibitions at several museums in the West. Some of these museums used to be palaces or were closely associated with the court culture. When the works made in the context of Western palaces are installed at the Palace Museum, a sense of tension created by the dialogue and contrast between different cultures became apparent.

The Museum of Art Pudong, a venue created for Modern and contemporary art, is quite a different context for the exhibition. Compared to the Palace Museum, M.A.P. is more suitable for displaying artworks. It has extensive white floors and walls as well as Malevichs Suprematist ceiling. When looking at the art, one tends to think about the artists aesthetic consideration, the methodology behind it, and the choice of materials. Of course, in this white cube, my exhibition, as well as the Tate and the Mir exhibitions are perhaps quite pristine and elitist. Conversely, the new work Encounter with the Unknown created for the X Hall is quite experimental and adventurous.

Exhibition view of Encounter with the Unknown at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

Lets talk about that newly commissioned installation, Encounter with the Unknown,whichdraws on images from different stories and myths of humans embracing the cosmos, from Mayan cosmology to Americas obsession with the little green men.What prompted your fascination with the extra-terrestrial?

As a child, I frequently gazed up at the stars and imagined what lies beyond the starry sky. Moving to Japan in 1986, I soon moved beyond the East-West dichotomy, and observed humankind from the perspective of the cosmos. In 1989, I initiated the series of explosion events Projects for Extraterrestrials. Back then I already believed that there existed extraterrestrials and superpower, and that there is the unseen world behind our world. So I very much hoped these elements could be incorporated in my art, and that my artistic methodology and philosophy would have a spiritual dimension.

My installation Encounter with the Unknowncontinues the cosmic theme, through which I wish to convey a boys curiosity and sentiments toward the unknown world.

The work weaves together humanitys desire to defy gravity and embrace the cosmos shared across civilizations. For example, at the very beginning, mankind did not believe that the earth is round. Seeing the sails on the sailboat sink afar, they thought they could blow the sailboat that is large enough off to the sky. Throughout history, some wanted to fly into the sky on birds, and then there was Wanhu, who tied rockets under his chair in an attempt to send himself off into the universe.

Still for VR work Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City Courtesy Cai Studio.

You are also using the occasion of the exhibition to debut your first-ever VR work: Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City,in which people can watch one of your daytimefirework shows over the historic landmark.How did you find working with the medium was able to open up your artistic practice?

I have just begun to experiment with VR. The new technology and its worldview make it possible to create new ways to represent our world and its long history. For example, VRs characteristics of manifesting the surreal and unseen should be amplified in my art, since my art is about using the visible to represent the unseen.

What also concerns me is how to imbue this high-tech medium with warmth as well as an animalistic energy. Thats why I insisted on making the VR film in the style of myPeasant da Vincis, instead of invoking the kind of virtual, CG aesthetics seen in Hollywood movies.

I grafted different languages and mediums together, not minding it being raw and contradictory. The conceptual quality born from the collaging and conflicting of different languages, is more important to me as an artist.

Exhibition view of A Material Odyssey, a Getty Conservation Institute research exhibition at the Museum of Art Pudong, 2021. Photo by Gu Kenryou, courtesy Cai Studio.

Another new technology has been making waves in the art world this past year: NFTs. You have delved into the field with your Transient Eternity101 Ignitions of Gunpowder Paintings which recently sold for $2.5 million. What do you think about NFTs, and do you see yourself experimenting with them further?

These 101 ignition moments from the pieces I created during my Individuals Journey Through Western Art History always exist as an integral part of the gunpowder paintings. NFT technology makes it possible to own and collect these moments, which are transformed as transient eternity.

The project asks what defines an artists work and what is an art project. It reflects on the questions surrounding the transience and eternity of the digital age embodied by NFTs, and the core concept of how value is stored. In the age of pandemic and post-pandemic, through this project, I also reflect on the weight of transient existence in the eternal river of time.

I already have a number of ideas for NFTs. I think my next NFT projects ought to be more adventurous than what have been achieved so far. Is it possible to create an art project with a more forward-looking vision, and with more compelling forms and concepts, by leveraging the core values unique to NFT technology?

Cai Guo-Qiang: Odyssey and Homecoming is on view through March 7, 2022, at the Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai.

Originally posted here:
There Is an Unseen World Behind Our World: Artist Cai Guo-Qiang on What the Cosmos Can Reveal About Humanity - artnet News

The news is spreading quickly through the AV/UC industry. Two industry heavyweights, Shure andCrestron,have achieved something that many supposed industry insiders recently thought was very unlikely.So what has happened and is it really a revolution in AV systems integration?

Microsoft has certified the first MS Teams Room System in which the audio DSP is not connected to the soft codec as external hardware via USB, but instead runs directly on the UC PC as software.

This innovation is rightly celebrated extensively by both partners. See hereandhere. The combination is indeed special, as it is the first AV system from two independent manufacturers without any internal cabling.

Toms Blog, which I value, provides the most important information in a blog post, without going into the background. A joint video from Shure and Crestron also provides marketing information but doesnt quite capture the full impact for the industry as a whole.

Is there really much more to it?Why am I talking about a revolution for AV systems integration? In my opinion, what impact can, and in fact, will this announcement have on meeting room AV technology? In the following article, I would like to give you an overview of the reasons why this single solution from two important companies has what it takes to fundamentally change our business.

AV installations are a PC-free zoneWhile practically all other areas of the professional audio/video industry have long relied on PC technology instead of proprietary hardware, AV installation was and is apparently a Gallic village. This is strange insofar as the requirements in the vast majority of audio installations have long been met by normal PC technology.

In therecording studio, its been almost 10 years sinceAvid Pro Tools & Co almost invariably runs natively on PC and Mac. This means no special hardware in the form of DSP farms is required the CPUs from Intel and AMD carry out all the calculations themselves. Ideally, a GPU also helps as a powerful arithmetic servant. The providers can see how the PC world offers more powerful hardware from year to year.

Even inlive operations, the days of heavy side racks with countless effects devices are long gone. Either the effects are built into the mixer (see for example Allen & Heath) or a small notebook with suitable Waves softwaredelivers every imaginable audio effect.

The same trend can be seen in video editingandpost-processingthanks to solutions such as Blackmagic DesignsDaVinci Resolve.

Even live productionsare increasinglybeing realised with native PC software solutions such asVMIX.

And in the meeting room? There has been a strict separation to this day. On the one side proprietary audio DSPs and on the other the UC engines, i.e. PCs or Macs that run a soft codec for conferencing. The connection in between is a USB cable, which despite being chosen is an interface that isnt really popular on one side or the other.

PCs are well hidden in a 19 rackBut are there really no PCs in fixed audio installations? Of course there are; but they are very well hidden! Of course, AV manufacturers cannot ignore the economic viability of PC technology but you could almost believe that they want to keep it a secret. Instead of proclaiming a revolution for AV system integration with the new possibilities, innovations only trickle into products gradually.

Example 1:One of the most successful suppliers of audio DSPs is undoubtedly QSC. Its Q-SYS productsare flawless mini-PCs with Linux and node.js as central software components.In the case of the largeQ-SYS 5200 Core, it is even publicly made clear that it is a completely normalDELL R740server.

An essential point, however, is that the customer cannot install the respective DSP software on his own server. This is exactly what QSC had already taken to market in 2017 (see here https://www.qsc.com/news/news/detail/qsc-provides-glimpse-into-the-future-of-audio-video-and-control-processing -at-ise-amsterdam) and unfortunately did not quite succeed with. Opinions differ as to why this was but it may be that the time wasnt right then.

Example 2:With the IntelliMix P300 Audio Conferencing Processor, Shure offers a small but powerful audio DSP. This is particularly popular in the UC environment: docked to UC engines with Zoom or MS Teams via USB interface, with smart table and ceiling microphones integrated via Dante on the audio side and all operated via PoE+.

However, the P300 is basically a mini PC. It was in 2020 that Shure took the decisive step and separated the software from the hardware.

Voil, welcome to Shure IntelliMix Roomfor Windows.

Intellimix Room runs on any 64-bit Windows system with very modest minimum requirements:

As you can hear from the industry, the success of this software product to date is still manageable. AV integrators are still too caught up in a box shifting mentality but Shure didnt give in that easily and has now found a real killer application.

The revolution for AV system integration: the audio DSP migrates to the UC engineAs is well known, room clients from Zoom and MS Teams run on conventional PC technology. The term soft codec makes it clear that it is a software solution compared to video conference devices with proprietary hardware and software combinations.

And this is exactly where the circle closes. If both software packages are already running on a single PC, why not run both on the same PC together? Of course, it has to be powerful enough, but that is really no longer a problem these days.

You really have to congratulate the partners, Shure and Crestron, for convincing Microsoft of the good sense of such a solution. It was certainly not that easy, as there are still no (public) test criteria for such a combination. Logically, all interfacing problems in terms of AEC are off the table in one fell swoop. Bravo!

Whats next? The outlook for really deeply integrated systemsIs that enough to start a revolution in AV systems integration? Will other providers follow suit and also offer soft DSPs? Quite possibly and it is certainly desirable in terms of a wider range. But I would go one step further (or are there several steps?). Imagine the following scenarios:

1. UC clients on their own audio hardwareWhy not turn the tables and use the Teams/Zoom/etc install client on an audio product? Why not run Zoom Rooms natively on a QSC Q-SYS Core? The blinkers of the platform providers probably do not yet allow such a way of thinking, but it would certainly be an absolutely sensible solution. Instead of converting a mini PC to an audio installation, current AV devices already meet all requirements in terms of design, sales channel, support structures and the like.

2. Massive expansion of the functionality of audio DSPsThis has already been mentioned several times on my own blog. The gap between the performance of traditional audio DSPs in our industry and the cloud-driven algorithms of software providers (seehere) is constantly widening. When the two worlds meet on the same hardware, there are suddenly enormous synergies and an unprecedented price/performance ratio for the customer.

3. The same applies to videoIf, thanks to theDANTE Virtual Sound Card, audio suddenly goes in and out of a UC engine via the LAN, the same is possible for video. NDI is a perfect solution for this. And such networking is a condition for the following point.

4. Conference hostingInstead of having your own small PC with the appropriate software in each meeting room, this will be centralised in the future. What Crestron does in the world of media control withCrestron Virtual Control VC-4, for example, can also work in conferencing. Microphones, cameras and even loudspeakers that are remote but on the network allow conferencing hardware to be moved to a (local) datacentre. Just think of the effects this has on customer groups such as universities when the rollout of collaboration technology in every lecture hall suddenly becomes very easy!

SummaryWhat Crestron and Shure have just announced in terms of MS Teams Rooms is definitely a milestone in the AV world:

But instead because it opens up the hitherto rather isolated market of AV installation for new providers:

All of these developments require a solid foundation of advice and planning and I am available for inquiries and comments.

Harald Steindl is a consultant based in Austria. This article first appeared on the HST Raising the Bar blog as A revolution in AV systems integration here.

More here:
'The MS Teams Rooms system that will start a revolution' - AV Magazine

During anniversary celebrations with his wife Donna in August 2020, Mr Johnson suffered a fall down the stairs which resulted in him being unable to feel his body.

Aged 57 at the time, Mr Johnson was rushed to hospital and kept in intensive care for two weeks, where it was discovered that he had broken his spinal cord at his C3 vertebrae.

Doctors worked for two hours to clear his chest as he was also suffering from a collapsed lung and pneumonia.

Mr Johnsons wife Donna, was told by doctors to avoid sharing the extent of his injuries with her husband

She said: "They told me and my daughter he would never walk again.

"They didn't want to tell Keith because they thought hed have just given up and wouldn't have kept on fighting."

The dad of four is now suffering from injuries that affect his mobility, meaning he is unable to pick up a cup despite having a fit and healthy lifestyle while working as a cleaner at Teesport prior to his accident.

As a result of the incident, Mr Johnson has revealed that he has suffered from suicidal thoughts, and is embarrassed about the helpless situation he has found himself in.

He has relied on his family to see him through, with the thought of seeing his grandchild, nine-week-old Beau, being among the things which help keep Keiths spirits raised.

The couple are fighting for more physiotherapy for Keith, and are appealing for an extension to be made to their home in Farndale Walk to accommodate Keith's condition since being told by consultants that he will never walk again.

The use of their two-bedroomed house was adapted after Keiths accident. With only a kitchen and living room downstairs, the living room has been repurposed as Keiths room.

READ MOREPfizer vaccine linked to Bells palsy - man suffers facial paralysis

The request has had its setbacks though, as Mrs Johnson claims the process wasn't started until March this year and the pair are frustrated by the delay.

At present the only alterations that have been made to accommodate Keith are the installation of a ceiling hoist and a ramp at the rear, but Donna says they desperately need an extension.

When commenting on the delay Keith said: A year down the line there has been times when it feels like I have only just had the accidentwe are no further forward. Nothing has happened.

"It can't go on like this, it causes stress for the family.

There is hope for the family though, with a spokesperson for Redcar and Cleveland Council commenting: "All our sympathies are very much with this family and our officers are committed to working with them to move this situation forward as quickly as possible.

"Unfortunately, the long term solutions being considered can take a significant amount of time to resolve, such as designing the preferred solution, seeking planning permission and then undertaking the building works.

"We understand the urgency of this situation and will continue to work with this family and everyone else concerned to ensure a satisfactory outcome as soon as possible".

Samaritans (116 123) or email jo@samaritans.org operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year for those struggling.

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Heartbreak as dad will never walk again after going to toilet during anniversary party - Express

Councillors will meet on Wednesday to rubber stamp which local projects will be put forward for $4.5m in bushfire recovery funding.

"We've come up with seven projects, totalling $4,234,000," Mayor Peter Petty said ahead of the meeting.

The rural areas of the shire were set to receive a lot of attention, with Drake the major beneficiary where $2.9m was allocated.

Councillors met for a workshop last week to discuss which projects to put forward for funds. That workshop happened after a debate at the July council meeting started to introduce new project ideas, which had not been discussed previously.

It prompted the general manager Daryl Buckingham to say he was concerned the council was making decisions on the run. While improvements to access at Bruxner Park had been included in discussions at last month's council meeting, last week's workshop decided to pursue tourism funding instead of using the bushfire grant.

And a plan to leave more than $2m unallocated so the Angry Bulls Trails development could apply for it was also scrapped, with the council coming up with a list to spend almost all the $4.5m.

The works proposed for Drake include alternative access road and associated drainage, pathways and open space along Bruxner Highway to Timbarra Street and parking and road crossings.

It will include bus stop parking and a highway crossing.

$344,000 has been proposed for dead tree removal across the shire and $220,000 for rural addressing.

The installation of industrial ceiling fans and emergency lighting at Memorial Hall, along with a switchboard upgrade was allocated $220,000. Mingoola Hall upgrades, including a stand-alone accessibility friendly disabled toilet, have been suggested for $120,000.

Other funding applications include $190,000 for Northern Border Walk Signage and $240,000 for Tenterfield Swimming Pool equipment.

Cr Petty said the selection of projects had tried to spread the funding right across the shire. "This is what council has always tried to do," Cr Petty said.

He said the northern border signage was a project that showed great initiate and others addressed infrastructure that needed attention.

"Drake has badly needed this work, with drainage and pathways, and a bit of work on the Bruxner.

"I'm really happy, the council has done a really good job with what they've worked through," he said.

The National Bushfire Recovery Fund was created by the federal government to support communities impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

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Council to apply for $4.2m in bushfire recovery funding on local projects - Tenterfield Star

Home improvement is exciting until you open the instruction manual to assemble your new ceiling fan, grill or flat pack table.

Nate Henderson remembers the moment he realized there had to be a better way. One of Hendersons friends tried putting together a piece of furniture with his wife, but it devolved into an argument and ended with the couple throwing away the project.

We started talking about that, and looking around to see if theres something to help the DIY consumer do better, thats not paper and not just video. And thats really how it began, said Henderson, whose Grapevine company just landed a $9 million investment to help it grow.

In 2015, Henderson and his childhood friend Ahmed Qureshi created an app appropriately named BILT and packed it with thousands of interactive tutorials for products that usually require paper instruction manuals.

Today, BILT has millions of users in over 200 countries. It offers 12 different languages and is available in both the Apple app and Google Play stores.

BILT spent a year and a half considering different investment partners before closing a deal with Austin-based Silverton Partners, which Henderson said has a gold standard reputation in Texas. He said the new capital will let BILT grow at kind of a hyper pace.

Tutorials are created by BILT instruction designers a mix of employees with either engineering or graphic design experience. Brands usually reach out to BILT to create partnerships with the app.

The app is free to consumers, ad-free and contains hundreds of brands.

When you see it in BILT, its the exact, right, perfect experience you need to be successful, Henderson said.

Users can click and drag to rotate, zoom and move 3D images of the parts and tools required for each step. Audio or written instructions, or both, are available. The beginning of each tutorial includes the approximate time the assembly will take, how many people it will require and additional tools that may be needed.

Even the Air Force and Navy have partnered with BILT, creating tutorials for things like aircraft maintenance.

They have said, You know what, lets make our servicemen and -women really successful at what they do. It gives them greater job satisfaction, they know theyre doing a quality job, it saves money for the taxpayer. And everybody wins across the board, Henderson said.

Henderson thinks BILT is a market maker, suggesting it fills a void not covered by instruction manuals or YouTube videos.

When you think of competition, I would suggest you think of it more as substitutes, Henderson said. Most people today, when they say the paper [manual is] not working for me, the default is to go to YouTube. The challenge with YouTube is its a bit like the wild, wild West.

Henderson said YouTube videos are often outdated or inaccurate. Paper instructions offer their own challenges, and come with environmental costs. Henderson estimates that in one year, the BILT app will be able to prevent about a billion trees from being cut down.

Imagine the billions and billions of pages of paper, that werent a good experience anyway, that now dont have to be printed, Henderson said about paper manuals. It will be one of the great sustainability stories, I think, of the next decade.

Silverton Managing Partner Morgan Flager agrees that BILT has come up with a better way.

I cant imagine in five years, well still be dealing with paper instructions, he said.

BILT will become increasingly necessary as customers continue to order products online, Henderson said.

The more we buy online, the more pressure it puts on brands to say, youve got to figure out a way of packaging things smaller, and yet at the same time deliver an even better customer experience, Henderson said. The brand has spent years creating a great product that may actually work well. If you cant assemble it right, or youre frustrated, your loyalty toward that brand starts to get pretty shaky, and then you tell others about it.

Smaller packages, combined with the need for great customer service, is where BILT comes in. Smaller packages mean more assembly, and more assembly means more instruction manuals. Instead of traditional paper models, companies can include a barcode for customers to scan, prompting them to download the BILT app to view an interactive tutorial.

Henderson wouldnt provide specific revenue figures for BILT, but he said its experiencing 100% growth year over year, coming in under the $20 million mark in revenue.

BILT is heavily involved now with home improvement brands. But it plans to move into the automotive, small appliances, machinery and semi-professional spaces.

Ask yourself the question, what are the industries that require some type of assembly or installation or setup? Henderson said. It never ends.

View post:
Grapevine app maker readies for hyper-growth by taking frustration out of do-it-yourself projects - The Dallas Morning News

This is the first in a series of stories, State of the Devils, that will take a short- and long-term view at where the franchise stands after a second weird, pandemic-shortened season and where it is going in the years to come.

Think back over the past few seasons and what has been the most-asked question about the New Jersey Devils.

Has Pavel Zacha turned a proverbial corner? When are the Devils going to land a high-end defenseman? When is the club going to spend to the salary-cap ceiling?

All of those have been asked many times, but none is the correct answer, er, question. That would be the simple one: When is the rebuild going to end?

The Devils have more wins in the NHL draft lottery (two) than victories in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (one) since 2012.

See the original post here:
State of the Devils: Offseason additions offer hope that the rebuild is nearly over - The Athletic

Note: This is the third story in a three-part series previewing the start of Michigan footballs preseason camp, which formally kicks off Friday in Ann Arbor.

To read Part I (on Jim Harbaughs busy offseason), click here.

To read Part II (what we learned in the spring), click here.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. As Michigan gets ready to take the field today for its first official practice, theres a lot still to be sorted out.

Position battles from spring rage on, while coaches will keep a keen eye out for players taking the next step in their development.

Theres also plenty of work to be done on the defensive side, where first-year coordinator Mike Macdonald is still in the implementation stage of his new scheme. And even when it is ready to go, its going to take some time for his players to get a full grasp of it.

Meanwhile, Friday marks the first day for the second wave of Michigans 2021 recruiting class a group of incoming freshmen tabbed as the programs future. They may not make waves initially, but camp will serve as their first taste of the college level. It will also mark the first day for three new graduate transfers, all of whom could play pivotal roles for the Wolverines this fall:

Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman throws a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)AP

QB Alan Bowman A three-year starter at Texas Tech, Bowman provides an immediate injection of experience and productivity into Michigans quarterback room. The Grapevine, Texas, native started 16 games in the Red Raiders Air Raid offense, throwing for more than 5,200 yards and 33 touchdowns (and 17 interceptions) while setting freshman Big 12 records in 2018. But Bowmans also been hindered by injuries, and is limited in his skillset, making him a questionable fit for Michigans offense.

WR Daylen Baldwin An under-the-radar recruit, Baldwin played two seasons at Morgan State before transferring to Jackson State, where his breakout spring season put him on the radar of Power 5 schools. The Southfield, Mich., native wound up choosing Michigan and gives Josh Gattis receiver room added depth and an experienced playmaker. In six games at Jackson State, Baldwin caught 27 passes for 540 yards and seven touchdowns while earning SWAC Newcomer of the Year honors.

DT Jordan Whittley Michigan bolstered its defensive line this offseason by adding Whittley, a 6-foot-1, 358-pound defensive tackle from Oregon State. The California native didnt play in 2020, and started one game as a redshirt junior in 2019, but was disruptive at the junior college level. Whittley likely wont start for the Wolverines, but could be utilized on a situational basis.

Which brings us to the most important part of camp: Differentiating the contenders from the pretenders. This is a vital part of the preseason where coaches make final decisions on who might start Week 1 against Western Michigan and who will crack the depth chart for playing time.

More: Mike Macdonald wants new U-M defense to be a living nightmare for opponents

Here are the position battles and storylines well be monitoring:

Michigan offensive lineman Chuck Filiaga (66) tries to keep Penn State defensive lineman P.J. Mustipher (97) out of the backfield in the first quarter of their Big Ten football game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, on Saturday, November 28, 2020. (Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

How the offensive line shakes out. We already know that Ryan Hayes will be the starter at left tackle, and that Zak Zinter and Andrew Stueber are shoe-ins to start up front. But where Zinter and Stueber wind up could depend on what happens at left guard and center. Michigan really, really likes Zinter and wants to maximize his talent, so starting him at center is a real possibility. If that happens, then Stueber would likely slide to right guard and Michigan would have to find someone else (Trente Jones? Karsen Barnhart?) to play right tackle.

Meanwhile, Trevor Keegan appears to have caught up to fifth-year center Chuck Filiaga at left guard, making for what could be an interesting battle to watch in camp. With Sherrone Moore now coaching the offensive line, Michigan appears to have changed direction and decided to go with the five best linemen regardless of their position. That should allow them to be a bit more nimble and change things up as needed, especially with Zinter (center/guard) and Stueber (guard/tackle) able to play multiple spots.

Who else emerges at WR? We know Ronnie Bell, Michigans leading receiver last season, is the leader of the wideouts. We expect him to get his share of targets again this fall. But with proven receivers Nico Collins and Giles Jackson no longer in the picture, who else steps up to carry the load?

Cornelius Johnson appears to be on the cusp of that role, having caught 16 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns last fall. His 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame makes him a difficult player to cover, and another year under his belt should help. But Roman Wilson, Mike Sainristil and A.J. Henning are next in line, eager for more opportunities. With reliable, consistent quarterback play, they all should be in a position to take advantage.

More: OC Josh Gattis prefers to leave disastrous 2020 season in the past

Michigan defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson plays during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)AP

EDGE/LB depth is a concern. There are fewer bodies among edge rushers and linebackers than a year ago, a product of the coordinator and scheme change. Which makes keeping Aidan Hutchinson and Taylor Upshaw healthy and on the field a priority. But if something goes wrong, who is next in line? David Ojabos name has come up as a potential backup edge rusher, but hes played sparingly and was recruited to fit the previous scheme.

Elsewhere, Michigan returns just six scholarship linebackers from a season ago, a group that includes presumptive starters Josh Ross and Michael Barrett. The remaining four have zero combined starts and largely saw playing time last fall in lopsided games. Getting them ready will be important this fall.

The second cornerback spot appears up for grabs, with redshirt junior Vincent Gray in danger of losing his starting role to D.J. Turner. The news comes as Gray started all six games last fall and was declared Michigans No. 1 corner on the team, while Turner appeared in just one game, late in a blowout. Which begs the question: Has Gray fallen behind, or has Turner showed massive improvement since last fall? We havent heard much about Turner, so Ill bet the former.

Gemon Green came out of spring practice with the other side solidified, continuing his ascension from a rocky start to 2020. Michigan also some figuring out to do with others, like Jalen Perry and George Johnson. Are they a corner? Are they a safety? Dont be surprised if Michigan deploys more looks with five defensive backs this season.

Read more on Michigan football:

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Camp battles will help shape Michigans offensive line this fall

D.J. Turner pushing older Vincent Gray for starting CB spot

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DT Mazi Smith impressed this offseason; can he solidify a spot up the middle?

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Michigan football camp preview, Part III: Key additions, position battles to watch - MLive.com

IndyCar and NBC made yet another batch of history Sunday, crashes and red flags be damned.

The Music City Grand Prix, one of the more divisiveraces in recent years, and no doubt the most highlyanticipated IndyCar venue debut in a decade, registered as the most-watched IndyCar race on NBC's cable channels ever, averaging an audience of 1.212 million over the early-evening broadcast that featured nine cautions, two red flags, 33 laps run under yellow and a driver who first took flight and then took the checkered flag.

In a narrow victory over his teammate Scott Dixon, and after a riveting battle with Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson brought Chip Ganassi to victory lane for the fifth time in just 11 races so far in the 2021 season, marking the Swedish driver's second win of his IndyCar career and second in five races. More than 60,000 watched him complete the feat in-person around the streets of Nashville, with the crowd that watched him over the airwaves topping NBC's previously most-watched IndyCar race on NBC Sports:the 2016 Mid-Ohio race that averaged 934,000.

It gives this campaign two of NBC's four most-watched IndyCar races on cable ever coming in 2021, along with the race at Road America earlier this summer that averaged 807,000 fans.

More on Nashville:

Sunday's race also came in as the most-watched IndyCar race on any cable channel since the 1998 CART season, when a race drew 2.218 million on ESPN. It also out-drew three races from earlier this season on network TV, including the GMR Grand Prix (1.033 million) Barber (921,000) and Detroit Race 1 (845,000).

The Nashville mark also dwarfs IndyCar's average cable viewership from 2020 (432,000) and 2019 (423,000). Through four races in 2021, NBC Sports is averaging total audience delivery of 761,000 per race, up considerably on the first four in 2020 (362,000) and 2019 (397,000).

The Music City Grand Prix TV rating follows IndyCar's historic Mid-Ohio race, where the series registered NBC's most-watched non-Indy 500 race ever, averaging an audience of 1.303 million, as well as the news last month of a new three-year broadcast deal that will see NBC air 13 IndyCar races on NBC in 2022, along with one exclusively on its Peacock streaming service and the rest on USA Network, along with simulcast races on Peacock, among other important additions to IndyCar's growing digital footprint.

More 2021 IndyCar TV ratings details:

Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown atnlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter:@By_NathanBrown.

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Music City Grand Prix is NBC's most-watched IndyCar race on cable ever - IndyStar

SOUTH BLOOMING GROVE Property owners soon will be able to apply to the Village Board for permits to open synagogues or turn parts of their homes into prayer spaces under a newly enacted zoning amendment.

The new permit policy for houses of worship was one of a set of zoning changes Mayor George Kalaj and village trustees adopted on July 29 after holding a second public hearing on them. Other changes included doubling the footprint limit for new homes and increasing the allowed density for affordable housing.

The revisions follow a complete turnover of the five-member board in two elections in which South Blooming Grove's growing Hasidic community asserted its voting power, sweeping out all incumbents. The changes, first proposed in May on the heels of the second election, appear to have been a high-priority accommodation for those families and for builders.

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Audience speakers were starkly divided at an online hearing in May that focused largely on new houses of worship. Hasidic residents cheered the proposal as a victory for religious freedom, while other speakersquestionedthe impact on neighbors, the cost of future property-tax exemptions, and the lack of guidelines about what factors the board must weigh before granting permits.

The rules are spare, merely distinguishing between houses of worship that occupy parts of homes and those that stand alone, whether small or large. The Village Board would have to get the Planning Board's recommendations before issuing permits for large houses of worship, defined as holding 50 or more worshippers.

The board overrode the Orange County Planning Department's advice on beefing up those rules.County planners had told the board to expand the proposal to define in greater detail the three categories of houses of worship, limit each to appropriate zoning districts, and spell out the conditions they must meet for approval.

"Providing objective criteria for each class can help the community to avoid potentially significant adverse environmental impacts related to community character, transportation, and visual resources,"read the five-page review letter signed by CountyPlanning Commissioner Alan Sorensen on July 14.

None of those additions were made, other than to say that freestanding houses of worship must comply with the state's fire prevention and building codes.

The village board was set to discuss the application process for new houses of worship at its meeting on Monday night.

According to the Planning Department review, other zoning changes the board made will:raise the maximum footprint for homes to 5,000 square feet from 2,500 square feet;increase the height limit to 35 feet from 25 feet; and increase the number of extra homes a developer is allowed to build when affordable units are included in a project.

The review required the board to explain why those and other steps were being taken and include an analysis of their potential impact in the board's environmental review. Planners questioned whether the village's water system and other infrastructure could support denser development.

The board needed a super-majority of four votes under state law to override the Planning Department's requirements, which it got with a unanimous vote. The board resolution to adopt the zoning changes said of the planners' input: "After reviewsome of the modification requests were made, others were not."

During the same meeting at which the zoning changes were adopted, the village board voted to begin paying salaries of $300 per week or $15,600 a year to two men Kalaj appointed as unpaid assistants after taking office last September. The appointees, Isaac Eckstein and Joel Stern, lead a group called United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove. Kalaj described Stern as his campaign manager while running for office last year.

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South Blooming Grove amends zoning to allow new houses of worship and bigger homes - Times Herald-Record