Weekend Box Office (August 7 - 9, 2015)

by Gitesh Pandya

THISWEEKEND Tom Cruise kept his box office title as the veteran actor's latest hit Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation spent its second straight weekend at number one beating a handful of new releases including the new super hero offering Fantastic Four which stumbled into second place. The latest Ethan Hunt adventure grossed an estimated $29.4M dropping an encouraging 47%. That is a terrific hold for an action sequel as MI5 has been benefitting from strong word-of-mouth from those who have seen it already. The cume rose to $108.7M with 369 IMAX screens contributing a high 14% of the total at $15.5M.

All five Mission: Impossible films have now spent exactly two weekends at number one. Four did it during their first two frames while 2011's Ghost Protocol did an IMAX-only debut and then spent its second and third weekends in the top spot that holiday season once in full wide release. The 19-year-old spy franchise is still relevant with today's moviegoers and once again a solid and entertaining product is drawing in customers.

Rogue Nation opened in 18 more overseas markets and collected a stellar $65.5M this weekend from 58 total territories to boost Paramount's international cume to $156.7M and the global haul to $265.4M. With major markets like France, Brazil, and Italy still to open this month followed by China on September 8, MI5 looks on course to make over $700M worldwide which would be a new career high for Tom Cruise.

The new action entry Fantastic Four suffered one of the worst openings ever for a major Marvel super hero property grossing an estimated $26.2M which was less than half of what the two previous films in the franchise opened to. Panned by film critics, the PG-13 pic averaged only $6,558 from 3,995 locations for Fox falling well below what comic book movies do in the prime summer season.

This reboot was clobbered by poor reviews which repelled audiences. Those who did buy tickets agreed and gave a thumbs down. The CinemaScore grade was a lousy C- and other metrics also showed among the lowest scores for any Hollywood film this summer. Moviegoers made a strong statement this weekend telling studios that they will not come out and spend money on super hero movies that are not well-made and exciting. Marvel and DC should listen up given the long list of big-budget comic book movies they have scheduled over the next several years.

Fantastic Four played 60% male according to studio data with younger appeal making the split between those over and under 25 almost even. With a huge 25% tumble on Saturday from Friday, the road ahead looks bleak with the domestic final possibly ending up in the $60-65M range. Last summer's Marvel super hero team flicks X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy made more than that in just their first two days of release. Both were loved by critics and audiences alike.

The first two Fantastic Four pics in the franchise featuring a different cast bowed to $56.1M in 2005 and $58.1M in 2007. The new Four opened to $34.1M in 43 international markets this weekend. Fantastic Four 2 with the same new cast is already on the release calendar for June 9, 2017, but it will need to be seen if any changes are made to that plan.

New distributor STX enjoyed a solid opening for its first release, the psychological thriller The Gift, which landed in third with an estimated $12M from 2,503 sites for a good $4,794 average. The R-rated Jason Bateman pic played 53% female and 73% over 25 and earned rave reviews across the board. Budgeted at only $5M, Gift was not as well-liked by paying audiences as evidenced by the so-so B grade from CinemaScore but even with average legs this one should recoup its production and marketing costs in the near future.

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Weekend Box Office - Box Office Guru

Electricity figures everywhere in our lives. Electricity lights up our homes, cooks our food, powers our computers, television sets, and other electronic devices. Electricity from batteries keeps our cars running and makes our flashlights shine in the dark.

Here's something you can do to see the importance of electricity. Take a walk through your school, house or apartment and write down all the different appliances, devices and machines that use electricity. You'll be amazed at how many things we use each and every day that depend on electricity.

But what is electricity? Where does it come from? How does it work? Before we understand all that, we need to know a little bit about atoms and their structure.

All matter is made up of atoms, and atoms are made up of smaller particles. The three main particles making up an atom are the proton, the neutron and the electron.

Electrons spin around the center, or nucleus, of atoms, in the same way the moon spins around the earth. The nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons.

Electrons contain a negative charge, protons a positive charge. Neutrons are neutral they have neither a positive nor a negative charge.

There are many different kinds of atoms, one for each type of element. An atom is a single part that makes up an element. There are 118 different known elements that make up every thing! Some elements like oxygen we breathe are essential to life.

Each atom has a specific number of electrons, protons and neutrons. But no matter how many particles an atom has, the number of electrons usually needs to be the same as the number of protons. If the numbers are the same, the atom is called balanced, and it is very stable.

So, if an atom had six protons, it should also have six electrons. The element with six protons and six electrons is called carbon. Carbon is found in abundance in the sun, stars, comets, atmospheres of most planets, and the food we eat. Coal is made of carbon; so are diamonds.

Some kinds of atoms have loosely attached electrons. An atom that loses electrons has more protons than electrons and is positively charged. An atom that gains electrons has more negative particles and is negatively charge. A "charged" atom is called an "ion."

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The Energy Story - Chapter 2: What Is Electricity?

Tweaking.com - Windows Repair is a tool designed help fix a large majority of known Windows problems including; registry errors, file permissions, issues with Internet Explorer, Windows Updates, Windows Firewall and more. Malware and poorly installed programs can modify your default settings resulting in your machine working badly - or worse. With Tweaking.com Windows Repair you can restore Windows original settings fixing many of these problems outright.

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Tweaking.com - Windows Repair is an all-in-one repair tool to help fix a large majority of known Windows problems including:

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Tweaking.com - Windows Repair

Helping Homeowners Finish Their Own Basement

I Have 23 Years of Basement Finishing Experience That I Will Share With You During Your Basement Project.

Together... Well Save Money, Time and Avoid the Costly Mistakes Beginners Sometimes Make. And... Well Have Fun Doing It!

Let's get started!

BASEMENT FINISHING IDEAS - WHERE DO YOU FIND THEM? If it werent for all theawesomely creative basement finishing ideas that are available for us to drool over and mimic down in our finished basement, the basement world would be somewhat of a grey world. You canget some greatideas that willstir

A wet bar is right there at the top of the wish list for a lot homeowners finishing the basement! Theres just something alluring about having a bar down in the basementthey just seem to go so well together. Ive built manybars for my clients over the years and most

What is the cost of a basement? Well, that depends on one major factorare you doing the project yourself, or are you hiring a basement contractor to do the project for you? The price range between the two options will range from $10.00 a sq. ft. upwards to $35-45.00 per

Ahhh yes that same nagging question that haunts so many D.I.Y. homeowners How do I frame around all the duct-work overhead in the basement? Theres a bunch of other stuff you have to frame around up there as well! You got your wires, your pipes, and the biggestobstacleof em all

The subject of Fire Blocking a basement seems to be surrounded by mystery and secrecy. This is an area that seems to be very confusing for a lot of DIYers finishing their own basement! I know how you feelI have been finishing basements for 27 years and in the old

A question that I get askedfrequentlyby basement clients and students is How would you design my basement? and I always start the conversation with the same two questionswell that all depends on: 1.) What you want to use the new finished spaces for, and 2.) How much money do you

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Basement Finishing Ideas | Learn how to finish your basement

It is quite common for homeowners to rent their hot water heaters here in Ontario. The rentals cost anywhere between $15 for an old tank to $20 or more for a new one. Years ago, we stopped renting our old water heater and Ive been meaning to replace it for a while now. But, what with one thing or another, I never got around to it even though Michael James warned everyone on the mess that a leaking water heater makes in your basement.

Well, last weekend, I finally paid the price for keeping an old, rusted, water heater around a little too long. The bottom of the old water tank had rusted through and leaked water into the furnace room and to my basement office. After shutting down the valve, draining the heater and cleaning up the mess, I went shopping for a replacement. Home Depot carries water heaters and offers installation services (for some reason, Rona doesnt) and for a fee, is willing to do a rush job. Heres what installing a new tank will cost you:

GE 50 gallon gas water heater: $683.00 (60 gallon tank: $712.00)

Water heater measure: $40.00 Installation: $300.00 Weekend, evening & holiday fee: $165.00 Haul away & dispose: $40.00 Total Install Charges: $545.00

Grand total (including GST): $1,289.40

Weve stopped renting for more than 4 years now and the old rental was costing us $13.99 every month. Installing a new heater and then renting it costs about $20 per month in addition to certain one-time installation fees that are charged upfront. Netting out the savings of about $750 over four years from buying out the old water heater, the new tank cost us $540. If renting the same heater costs us $20 per month, the new tank will break even in just over two years. Plus we will be on hook for any maintenance or service calls.

It seems to me that owning a water heater is much cheaper over the long run than renting it as long as you are willing to absorb the expense of an unexpected maintenance call. Perhaps, thats why homeowners in most provinces do not bother with renting and it is time Ontarians wise up to how much renting our water heaters is costing us.

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Installing a new hot water heater | Canadian Capitalist

In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, pools, ponds, cascades, waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, though the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon are described by Strabo as supplied by an Archimedean screw.[1] Other examples were supplied with water using hydraulic rams.

Since the 18th century, the majority of water features have been powered by pumps. In the past, the power source was sometimes a steam engine, but in modern features it is almost always powered by electricity. There is an increasing range of innovative designs as the market becomes more established and people become more aware of alternate installation methods, such as solar power. The advantages of using solar power include environmental benefits, no electrical lines in the garden, and free energy.

Modern water features are typically self-contained, meaning that they do not require water to be plumbed in; rather water is recycled from either a pond or a hidden reservoir, also known as a sump. The sump can either be contained within the water feature, or buried underground (in the case of an outdoor water feature).

A water feature may be indoor or outdoor and can be any size, from a desk top water fountain to a large indoor waterfall that covers an entire wall in a large commercial building, and can be made from any number of materials, including stone, granite, stainless steel, resin, and glass. Most water features are electronically controlled, ranging from simple timer actuators to sophisticated computerized controls for synchronizing music to water and light animation.

Water features often offer additional benefits to homeowners, such as increased curb appeal, home value, reduced noise pollution (due to the sound of water overpowering outside noise), and improved air quality.

In early modern Europe, fountains were found in the elaborate gardens of the mansions of the wealthy, and in modern times can be an element in urban design provided by the municipal authorities or public subscription.

A notable modern example is the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in London, England.

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Water feature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

by Jennifer Jones

Stone walkways are the perfect way to enhance your outdoor living areas and add beauty to your surroundings. Pathways are not only a gorgeous addition, but also functional, leading the viewer to a specific area. One of the most important aspects of your property is the walkway that leads to the front door of your home. A garden path is excellent for guiding admirers around your yard. There are many styles of paths, but the most popular is a stone walkway. They can blend in with most yards and are incredibly durable. A stone walkway is a relatively simple, inexpensive update and can be completed in a weekend.

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A natural first step is deciding the length, width and position of the path. A rule of thumb is to make it wide enough so that two people could walk it side by side. Try to avoid building the walkway under large trees. Tree roots may eventually damage the walkway or the path may harm the roots. A more welcoming, relaxed walkway is often a curved path with unique features. Formal walkways are usually as straight as possible with plain materials that convey organization. A widely spaced, random stone path is better suited for gardens or secondary paths across lawns and backyards. A high-traffic walkway leading to a home's entry is best constructed with a smooth, uniformly cut stone set with tight joints to prevent trips and make walking easier. Calculate the square footage of the walkway area by multiplying the approximate width by the walkway's length. This square footage will give you an idea of the quantity of materials that you will need.

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A moving walkway or moving sidewalk (American English), known in British English as a travolator[1] or travelator[2] is a slow moving conveyor mechanism that transports people across a horizontal or inclined plane over a short to medium distance.[3] Moving walkways can be used by standing or walking on them. They are often installed in pairs, one for each direction.

The first moving walkway debuted at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It had two different divisions: one where passengers were seated, and one where riders could stand or walk. It ran in a loop down the length of a lakefront pier to a casino.[4] Six years later a moving walkway was also presented to the public at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. The walkway consisted of three elevated platforms, the first was stationary, the second moved at a moderate speed, and the third at about six miles an hour. These demonstrations likely served as inspiration for some of H. G. Wells' settings mentioned in the "Science Fiction" section below.

The Beeler Organization, a New York City consulting firm, proposed a Continuous Transit System with Sub-Surface Moving Platforms for Atlanta in 1924, with a design roughly similar to the Paris Exposition system. The proposed drive system used a linear induction motor. The system was not constructed.

The first commercial moving walkway in the United States was installed in 1954 in Jersey City, NJ, inside the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Erie station) at the Pavonia Terminal. Named the "Speedwalk" and built by Goodyear, it was 277ft (84.5 m) long and moved up a 10 percent grade at a speed of 1.5mph (2.4km/h).[5] The walkway was removed a few years later when traffic patterns at the station changed.

The first moving walkway in an airport was installed in 1958 at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. On January 1, 1960, Tina Marie Brandon, age 2, was killed on the moving sidewalk.[6]

Moving walkways are built in one of two basic styles:

Both types of moving walkway have a grooved surface to mesh with combplates at the ends. Also, nearly all moving walkways are built with moving handrails similar to those on escalators.

Pallet-types consists of one-piece, die-cast aluminium pallets. Example dimensions are: widths (between balustrades): between 32inches (800mm) and 56inches (1200mm), with a speed of 100 feet per minute (.5 metres per second), powered by an AC induction motor.[7]

In the 1970s, Dunlop developed the Speedaway system.[8] It was in fact an invention by Gabriel Bouladon and Paul Zuppiger of the Battelle Memorial Institute at their former Geneva, Switzerland facility. A prototype was built and demonstrated at the Battelle Institute in Geneva in the early 1970s, as can be attested by a (French-speaking) Swiss television program entitled Un Jour une Heure aired in October 1974. The great advantage of the Speedaway, as compared to the then existing systems, was that the embarking/disembarking zone was both wide and slow moving (up to 4 passengers could embark simultaneously, allowing for a large number of passengers, up to 10,000 per hour), whereas the transportation zone was narrower and fast moving.

The entrance to the system was like a very wide escalator, with broad metal tread plates of a parallelogram shape. After a short distance the tread plates were accelerated to one side, sliding past one another to form progressively into a narrower but faster moving track which travelled at almost a right-angle to the entry section. The passenger was accelerated through a parabolic path to a maximum design speed of 15km/h (9mph). The experience was unfamiliar to passengers, who needed to understand how to use the system to be able to do so safely. Developing a moving hand-rail for the system presented a challenge, also solved by the Battelle team. The Speedaway was intended to be used as a stand-alone system over short distances or to form acceleration and deceleration units providing entry and exit means for a parallel conventional (but fast running) Starglide walkway which covered longer distances. The system was still in development in 1975 but never went into commercial production.

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Moving walkway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Home > Pruning shade trees

Pruning methods that promote a sound tree structure help trees resist failure, provide clearance, and improve aesthetics, while promoting long life. From training young trees to managing mature ones, structural pruning to guide and manage tree architecture should be the primary goal each time a tree is pruned. A well-structured tree is aesthetically pleasing, preserves the crown as it grows larger, and is long-lived. Poor tree architecture can be costly, leading to failure and early tree removal. When improperly performed, pruning can harm the tree's health, stability, and appearance and make matters worse. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Why prune? | Cause no harm | Objectives | Approach | Design a plan | At planting | Time of year | Pruning cuts | Structural pruning | Thinning | Reducing | Raising | Cleaning | Restoration | Pruning palms | Mature trees | Utility pruning | Practice pruning | Photos

Research: Appropriate pruning reduces wind damage Fact sheets: (pdf) Young trees, Mature trees, Restoration, Landscape trees and shrubs, Crape myrtle pruning New Cue cards: (pdf) Prune at planting, Prune young trees, Pruning methods, Restoration prune Much more on pruning: Click here ------------------------------------------------------------------- See: Root pruning, Nursery pruning, Pruning specifications See: Additional examples

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Tree Pruning - University of Florida

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Divide the areas into rectangles (if possible) of about 1200 square feet each. These will be your "zones", or areas which will be watered as a unit. Larger areas will require special heads and a higher volume of water than you can normally get from a residential water system.

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Chose the appropriate sprinkler heads to cover your zone, using pop-up impulse or gear driven heads for wide grassy areas, shrub heads or bubblers for shrubs and flowers, and fixed pop-up heads for locations adjoining buildings or paved areas like driveways and streets.

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Mark the location of each head in accordance with the spraying distance of the heads you choose. Rain Bird R-50's, a common good quality head, will spray an arc, semicircle, or full circle about 2530 feet (7.69.1m) in diameter, so heads can be placed about 45 feet (13.7m) apart to allow some overlap.

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Count the number of heads you use on a zone, and add the gallon per minute volume for each one. You should find the typical gear drive head can be rated from 1.5 gpm to 4 gpm, depending on the nozzle diameter. Fixed pop-ups generally run about 1 gpm. Add the total of gpm of the zone's heads, and use this number to size your pipe. As a rule of thumb, a zone with 5-7 heads should require about 12-15 gpm, with the water pressure supplied at a minimum of 20 psi (pounds per square inch). To supply this zone you will need a one inch main pipe (line), with 34 or 12 inch (1.9 or 1.3cm) branch lines from your main.

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How to Install a Sprinkler System (with Pictures) - wikiHow