Philip is a professional Toronto-based commercial and architectural photographer, producing dynamic images for corporations, businesses, architects, real estate agents, interior designers, construction professionals and the hospitality sector. His images are typically used for web sites, marketing presentations, public relations initiatives, corporate communications and editorial purposes. Equally at home in an interior design shoot or an industrial situation he has the experience, professional versatility and range of equipment to handle most eventualities. Satisfied customers can attest to this; furthermore his ability to cater to last minute deadlines and his realistically priced assignments are always appreciated.

Working throughout North America for over 15 years, Philips awareness of composition and light and the determination of viewpoint result in images that have strong impact and lasting impression, earning him a high percentage of repeat clients.

Tell me about your project. Phone or email with details of your requirements, the approximate number of images, location, time frame, and the intended usage. I will get back to you promptly and submit a quotation. I look forward to working with you.

Contact Me

I recently photographed the newly opened Panerai boutiqueinYorkdale Mall, Toronto the first Canadian location of this iconic Italian watch manufacturer.

Recently returned to Vancouver and Calgary to shoot more Cadillac Fairview properties. In Vancouver the redevelopment of 725 Granville on top of the new Nordstrom is a notable highlight.In Calgary the Calgary City Centre CF building is stunning.

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Philip Castleton - Professional Commercial Photographer ...

Michael Barrett Gazette staff GazetteMike

Jessica Haywood shelled out plenty of her hard-earned money to open Cotton Candy Kids Boutique in downtown Gastonia in May.

Now, shes one of two new business owners asking the city for help through a program aimed at fostering and strengthening downtown commerce.

Gastonias IDEAL program was founded in 2009 and stands for Investment in Downtown Economic Assistance and Livability. It allows for the distribution of grants to businesses that have paid for building improvements, facade upgrades or architectural services in the course of opening or improving an existing commercial venture.

All funds for the grants come from a municipal service district tax paid solely by downtown property owners. No property tax revenue is involved.

In terms of a financial commitment, the IDEAL program isnt what it once was. For the current budget year, City Council members reserved only $45,749 for qualifying applicants. Thats far below what the city was pumping into the initiative during the first few years of its inception.

But it continues to be a resource that can be tapped to provide a little extra monetary cushion for entrepreneurs on and around Main Avenue.

Members of the Central City Revitalization and Housing Committee endorsed the two latest proposals during a meeting Wednesday. They recommended giving $648 to Cotton Candy Kids Boutique for faade improvements made to the building at 111. E. Main Ave.

Committee members also recommended awarding $11,130 in faade upfit funds and $1,500 for an architectural services grant to Greg Simpson, the owner of Guilty Pleasures Bakery and Catering. He recently moved his nine-year-old business from Garrison Boulevard to its new location at 201 E. Franklin Blvd.

Simpson actually requested a total of $30,500 in IDEAL grant funding to help pay for a portion of what he spent improving the building at his new location. Haywood herself turned in receipts showing she spent $1,300 to put up a new sign and repaint her storefront.

But the city determines eligibility in part by calculating the square footage of the space being leased by the business, among other factors. The amounts recommended by the Central City committee represent the maximums the two businesses were capable of receiving.

City Council members will consider the recommendation later this month.

The city most recently awarded $32,000 in IDEAL grants late last year for Sleepy Poet Antique Mall, Cavendish Brewing Co., and the owner of the Merit Building on Main Avenue. Since 2009, the city has paid out a total of nearly $189,000 for the grants to 33 businesses, some of which have since closed.

Cotton Candy Kids Boutique offers new childrens clothes, toys and jewelry, along with gently-used secondhand clothing in quality condition. Haywood signed a three-year lease on her building this year.

Guilty Pleasures is a full-service caterer and bakery that has expanded to include a larger tasting area, kitchen and retail space. It also now offers pre-cooked, take-home frozen meals.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or on Twitter @GazetteMike.

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Two new downtown businesses hope to tap city for grants - Gaston Gazette

Provided by Loveless Porter Architects, LLC

Deltone Moore, founder of Popcorn Monkey, says that the latest outpost of his family-owned, gourmet popcorn shop, opened in Manassas last month, is a homecoming. Moore noted that he long had an eye on owning a business in Manassas, but with the citys 95 percent commercial occupancy rate, it was a matter of waiting for the right space to become available. Eventually, he found what he wanted in 9407 Main Street, a corner building in the historic downtown district.

Moore said that a new location meant familiarizing himself with building codes for the City of Manassas, and finding the best way to display the shops colorful array of products in the older, narrow building.

The process to get a business started was incredibly swift. The city is efficient and just business friendly, said Moore, who added that his architects knowledge of local regulations was helpful too.

Sean Porter [of Loveless Porter Architects] knew what we had to do to get licensed and running. He was able to adjust design plans based on permitting to meet our target date of opening by First Friday. He stopped what he was doing, and got it done, said Moore. He noted that Porter also maximized the available space so that customers could see everything that the store has to offer.

Sean flipped my entire design, making it even more efficient than I imagined. That has a positive impact on customer experience and the bottom line, said Moore. Loveless Porter really listens to what you have to say. It was very easy working with Sean. He made what I envisioned come to life.

Being able to quickly see what is on the shelves is particularly important given Popcorn Monkeys ever-changing inventory, Moore explained. The popcorn is made fresh, with different flavors on rotation based on client suggestions and online voting. In addition to small-batch popcorn, the shelves are stocked with a colorful assortment of unusual soft drinks, candy and branded popcorn tins.

Moores daughter, Jewell Moore, manages the Manassas location. For store hours and the latest popcorn flavors, visit Facebook.com/popcornmonkeyllc.

Based in Manassas, Loveless Porter Architects, LLC has provided full architectural and engineering services throughout the DMV since 1975, maintaining a reputation based on thoroughness and responsiveness. Good design grounded in practical knowledge of construction and detailed construction documents are hallmarks of the firms work for a diverse array of clients, including government, breweries, retail, commercial, and institutional projects include medical facilities, churches, schools, and manufacturing facilities. Learn more at lovelessporterarchitects.com.

Quality, flavor and memories is what the Popcorn Monkey is all about. The family-owned company focuses on utilizing the finest ingredients and producing it one small batch at a time, offering freshly popped corn and rotating flavors. Learn more at popcornmonkeyllc.com.

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Family-owned popcorn shop benefits from good design at new hometown location - Prince William Living (press release) (blog)

United announced it will join Alaska Air in operating passenger service from Paine Field in Everett.

United Airlines plans to begin commercial passenger service from Paine Field airport in Everett in fall 2018 with six daily flights to its hubs in Denver and San Francisco, the airline is announcing Thursday.

United follows Alaska Air Group in committing to scheduled flights out of the Snohomish County airport, ensuring that the planned passenger terminal will operate almost at full capacity as soon as it opens next year.

The airport will offer air travelers north of Seattle an alternative to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when flying to some popular Western U.S. destinations.

Dave Hilfman, Uniteds senior vice president of worldwide sales, said in a statement that North Seattle and northwest Washington area travelers will now have easy access to our hubs in Denver and San Francisco and to opportunities to connect to business centers around the world.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers welcomed the prospect of daily connections to Uniteds hubs with international service.

United offers connecting flights to about 120 destinations from those two cities.

In May, Alaska Air Group said it will begin passenger service, also in fall 2018, with tickets going on sale early next year for nine daily departures to destinations along the West Coast from Oregon to California.

The planned services by Alaska and United combined should almost fully occupy the two airport gates planned at the new terminal.

Propeller Airports, which is owned by New York-based private equity firm Propeller Investments, is developing and will operate the terminal, which had its groundbreaking in June.

With typical turn times, the terminals two gates mean a peak capacity of roughly 16 passenger flights per day, or 32 takeoffs and landings.

As far as capacity goes we are getting pretty close, said Propeller Chief Executive Brett Smith. Our focus is now entirely on getting the terminal built and open.

Paine Field, named in honor of hometown hero Topliff Olin Paine, an Army Air Corps pilot during World War I, was constructed during the Great Depression to create jobs and economic growth in the region by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936, eight years before Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

In 1939, United operated the first commercial airplane flight out of the airport, a courtesy flight carrying Snohomish County commissioners and members of the media.

In those early days, Boeing Field in Seattle was the main regional airport.

Paine Field initially served as an alternate landing site on days when weather prevented commercial flights from landing in Seattle, as well as a hub for small private airplanes.

After Boeing in 1966 chose Paine Field as the location for building its first widebody airplane, the 747 jumbo jet, the site became a major center of Boeing production and today produces the 747, 767, 777, and 787 jets.

According to data provided by Paine Field, airport traffic in 2016 included an average of 7.6 takeoffs or landings per day by newly rolled out Boeing aircraft or by the Dreamlifter jets that bring in large pieces of the 787 Dreamliner.

Last year, the airport also saw an average of three takeoffs or landings per day by other big jets, mostly those undergoing maintenance at the ATS aircraft repair and modification facility.

However, 96 percent of the flight operations out of Paine Field today are by small private aircraft.

Paine Field is known as a regional tourist attraction because its the site of Boeings widebody-jet plant tour, the Future of Flight exhibition center and two big collections of historic airplanes.

Bill Dolan, deputy director at the airport, said the arrival of passenger service will make the airport more widely known to travelers.

Citing noise and traffic concerns, nearby residents in the city of Mukilteo, which adjoins the Paine Field runway, long opposed commercial flights at the airfield.

However, local elected officials in Everett and Snohomish County and as well as officials at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fully backed the project.

Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson told the Seattle Times in May that Propeller has agreed to limit the number of commercial flights to a maximum of 22 per day and to restrict commercial air operations to the hours from 7 a.m. to 6p.m.

On Thursday, she conceded this was not the case there is no such agreement with Propeller. Instead, she said its the Snohomish County permitting process and environmental impact analysis that imposes limits on the hours of operation and number of flights.

However, the document Gregerson cited, the countys Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance, does not impose such limits.

To assess the environmental impact, that document estimates the maximum number of daily passenger flights at 16 (or 32 take-offs and landings), based on the logistics of operating only two gates.

But that number is not a limit.

Deputy airport director Dolan said that Propeller would need further permission to construct additional gates, but if they instead worked out a way to have faster turnaround and higher throughput of airplanes at the initial two gates that would not trigger additional review unless it was deemed to add a substantial new negative impact.

In addition, nighttime flights are not prohibited.

Instead, the countys environmental review asks Propeller to seek voluntary agreements with the airlines using the airport to limit their nighttime flights (after 10:00 p.m.) to no more than four in any 24 hour period.

Information in this article, originally published on the morning of August 10, 2017 was corrected later that morning. A previous version of this story, using information provided by Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson, incorrectly stated that Propeller had agreed to limit the number of flights and hours of operation at Paine Field.

Link:
United Airlines will offer flights from Everett's Paine Field in 2018 - The Seattle Times

The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas.

Pearl River, NY (PRWEB) August 17, 2017

Hunter Douglas Architectural, a developer of leading edge architectural product solutions and systems, has launched two online tools to help specifiers understand the impact of fenestration and calculate how specific fenestration materials can alter the performance of a building project. By using these accessible web-based tools, architects and designers will be able to easily assist clients seeking LEED certification, enhance building energy efficiency through comprehensive performance data, and provide optimal environments for occupants.

The LEED Calculation Tool, available at leed.hunterdouglasarchitectural.com, allows users to obtain LEED Materials and Resources Credit Information for Recycled Content (MR 4.1) and Distance to Manufacturer (MR 5.1). System parameters include: operation, type, bracket, width, height, fabric selection, and project location. After selecting the appropriate fields and inputting project information, the tool generates a .pdf file that clearly summarizes the application of LEED for New Construction and Major Renovation and Commercial Interiors projects using Hunter Douglas products.

The process of generating LEED certification information can be incredibly time-consuming, but its something that has to be done if a building is seeking LEED, said Jon Behrens, Senior Project Manager of Window Coverings at Fabric Wallcraft, a California-based company that focuses on acoustic design solutions, architectural installations, interior light, and solar control. This tool was incredibly straight-forward and easy to use and it took me about 35 seconds to get the information I needed whereas before it took hours.

The Shading Performance Guide, found at shadinganalysis.hunterdouglasarchitectural.com, is a three-step tool designed for comparative estimates of key performance indicators of fabrics. The tool helps architects and designers implement the ABCs of shading fabric: application, the building, and color and composition. After entering the projects location, building orientation, and glazing system, the fenestration tool compares two shading fabrics on glare reduction, view preservation, and energy reduction based on the ANSI/NFRC 200/201 procedure for determining Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SGHC) and Visible Light Transmission.

When specifiers are selecting shading fabric, they may not fully consider the performance characters of the fabric versus the needs of the overall building, said Nick Chiaro, General Manager of Architectural Window Coverings at Hunter Douglas Architectural. This tool allows architects, designers, and others to make the right choice for their projects specific requirements.

To experiment with the LEED Calculation Tool, Shading Performance Guide, or to view Hunter Douglas Architectural Window Covering products and projects, please visit HunterDouglasArchitectural.com.

###

About Hunter Douglas ArchitecturalFor nearly a century, Hunter Douglas Architectural has been working within the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. By combining the vision and talents of our diverse team in offices spanning more than 100 countries, weve tackled tough design-build challenges in countless communities worldwide. Collaborating with our customers, we develop new technologies that meet the real needs of design teams in the field. The results are evident in our extensive range of high-performance interior and exterior window coverings, acoustical and metal ceilings, and facades, and in our customization capabilities and technical support. Over the years, weve remained deeply committed to sustainability and responsible manufacturing. Our design solutions optimize interior environmental quality, including energy efficiency, and material resources, and have helped many projects achieve LEED Platinum, Gold, or Silver worldwide. http://www.hdarchitectural.com.

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New Online Tools from Hunter Douglas Architectural Provide Specifiers with Complex Fenestration and Energy ... - PR Web (press release)

New VR portfolio, including the worlds first professional wearable VR PC, makes HP the partner of choice for immersive customer experiences

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1, 2017 HP today announced a unified approach and commercial solutions for virtual reality (VR), positioning itself as the partner of choice for businesses looking to reduce concept to production cycle times, improve training procedures and deliver fully immersive customer experiences. As part of this strategy, the company is unveiling the worlds first professional wearable VR PC1 the new HP Z VR Backpack. Crafted to bring the full potential of VR to-life, it is the worlds most secure and manageable wearable VR PC2ever created.

Virtual reality is changing the way people learn, communicate and create,said Xavier Garcia, vice president and general manager, Z Workstations, HP Inc.Making the most of this technology requires a collaborative relationship between customers and partners. As a leader in technology, HP is uniting powerful commercial VR solutions, including new products like the HP Z VR Backpack, with customer needs to empower VR experiences our customers can use today to reinvent the future.

The opportunities for commercial VR are limitless for businesses in product design, architecture, healthcare, first responder training, automotive and entertainment. Emerging technologies like VR create breakthrough experiences for customers from reinventing the buying experience in automotive showrooms to changing the way hospitals train their staff.

HPs Winning Approach to VR

HPs approach to virtual reality is founded upon its rich history of product innovation and deeply rooted customer relationships. HP works as an extension of its customers businesses, which enables it to deliver the most immersive technologies that help businesses lead their industries. HP technology not only provides commercial-grade reliability, but also established world-class partnerships that bring together the complete VR ecosystem with Intel, NVIDIA, Technicolor, HTC Vive and others.

The company is investing in immersive virtual and augmented reality technologies to give customers and partners superb tools for commercial VR use cases. This effort solidifies HPs long-term commitment to VR and helping customers use VR to reinvigorate their business. Thirteen immersion centers will open later this year in Palo Alto, Houston, Boise, Fort Collins, Stockholm, London, Paris, Barcelona, Boeblingen, Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore, and have been designed so customers can have an immersive experience using HP VR technology and receive consulting and learn how to best deploy VR devices within their business to streamline workflows.

The Mobility to Transform HP Z VR Backpack

TheHP Z VR Backpacksolution provides the freedom to move and maintain total immersion with high-octane visual performance and docking capabilities that transform it into a manageable, powerful desktop PC experience. The HP Z VR Backpack is a catalyst for more powerful VR experiences across many enterprises and businesses including the following use case examples:

With the workstation-class HP Z VR Backpack, the full potential of VR is brought to-life. HPs fully immersive and untethered VR Backpack is light with an ergonomic backpack design and hot swappable batteries to provide unrestricted freedom within an immersive experience. It has high-end processing power and the latest high-fidelity graphic solution to help prevent disruptive dropped frames so users can work in VR for as long as needed. The IntelCore i7 vPro processor provides the power to process applications quickly and includes the vPro chipset. The HP Z VR Backpack is the first wearable VR PC in the market with the NVIDIAQuadroP5200 with a huge 16GB video memory3. Finally, itsdocking solutionlets digital creators quickly transition back and forth between high powered desktop for content design and wearable VR PC to validate creations. The HTC Vive Business Edition HMD (sold separately) is part of the HP VR portfolio. HP Z VR Backpack is scheduled to be available in September starting at $3,299 USD. The datasheet is availablehere.

The HP VR Product Portfolio

HPs versatile, high-powered devices empower customers to create and consume VR content. HPs commercial grade products are designed for mission critical business applications that require high levels of security, manageability, reliabilty and ISV certified applications.

TheHP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstationdelivers ultimate power and performance and can be configured with the optimal horsepower and graphics solutions to bring VR content to-life in an ultra-smooth 90 FPS VR experience.

HP Z Desktop Workstationsare designed to create visually stimulating, accurate and compelling VR content. HP Z Workstations desktops feature the latest processors and graphics cards and are built to stay quiet, cool and reliable for graphic-intensive tasks.

TheHP EliteDesk 800 G3 Tower, a VR-certified PC, features high performance and expandability in a stylishly redesigned 26 percent smaller chassis for the modern workplace. It is ideal for companies wanting to future-proof their technology and deliver state-of-the-art capabilities.

TheOMEN X Compact Desktopbrings gamers an immersive experience. The factory-overclocked GPU from NVIDIA and versatile form factor means it can dock and undock quickly for gaming anywhere or can be used as a backpack for an untethered consumer VR gaming experience.

Project Mars

HP alsoannouncedHP Mars Home Planet, a project in partnership with NVIDIA, Technicolor, Fusion, Autodesk, Unreal, Launch Forth and Vive. The collaboration will create a global online co-creation community to reinvent life on Mars for one million humans, in virtual reality.

Glenn is a geographer and a GIS professional with over 20 years experience in the industry. He's the co-founder of GISuser and several other technology web publications.

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HP Debuts Virtual Reality Solutions and Services for Businesses - GISuser.com (press release)

Foundation Building Materials (NYSE: FBM) and Apogee Enterprises (NASDAQ:APOG) are both small-cap construction companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitabiliy, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Foundation Building Materials and Apogee Enterprises net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.0% of Foundation Building Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Apogee Enterprises shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Apogee Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Foundation Building Materials does not pay a dividend. Apogee Enterprises pays out 19.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Foundation Building Materials and Apogee Enterprises top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Apogee Enterprises has higher revenue, but lower earnings than Foundation Building Materials.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Foundation Building Materials and Apogee Enterprises, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Foundation Building Materials presently has a consensus price target of $19.86, indicating a potential upside of 65.20%. Apogee Enterprises has a consensus price target of $64.67, indicating a potential upside of 23.34%. Given Foundation Building Materials higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Foundation Building Materials is more favorable than Apogee Enterprises.

Summary

Apogee Enterprises beats Foundation Building Materials on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

Foundation Building Materials Company Profile

Foundation Building Materials, Inc. is a specialty distributor of wallboard and suspended ceiling systems in the United States and Canada. The Companys segments include Specialty Building Products and Mechanical Insulation. The Company fabricates and distributes its products for specialty contractors seeking to improve or maintain energy efficiency in a range of commercial and industrial buildings. It serves markets across the United States and in Canada. Specialty building products segment distributes wallboard and accessories, metal framing, suspended ceiling systems and other products. Other products include stucco and Exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS), as well as offerings, such as tools, safety accessories and fasteners. Its Mechanical insulation segment includes insulation solutions for pipes and mechanical systems and the primary end markets served are new non-residential construction, non- residential repair and remodel construction and industrial markets.

Apogee Enterprises Company Profile

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. is engaged in the design and development of glass solutions for enclosing commercial buildings and framing art. The Company operates through four segments: Architectural Glass, Architectural Services, Architectural Framing Systems and Large-Scale Optical Technologies (LSO). The Architectural Glass segment fabricates coated glass used in customized window and wall systems. The Architectural Services segment designs, engineers, fabricates and installs the walls of glass, windows and other curtainwall products making up the outside skin of commercial and institutional buildings. The Architectural Framing Systems segment designs, engineers, fabricates and finishes the aluminum frames used in customized aluminum and glass window, curtainwall, storefront and entrance systems. The Large-Scale Optical Technologies segment manufactures glass and acrylic products for the custom picture framing and fine art markets.

Receive News & Ratings for Foundation Building Materials Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Foundation Building Materials Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

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Head to Head Review: Foundation Building Materials (NYSE:FBM) and Apogee Enterprises (APOG) - BNB Daily (blog)

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HP (NYSE: HPQ) today announced a unified approach and commercial solutions for virtual reality (VR), positioning itself as the partner of choice for businesses looking to reduce concept to production cycle times, improve training procedures and deliver fully immersive customer experiences. As part of this strategy, the company is unveiling the worlds first professional wearable VR PC1 - the new HP Z VR Backpack. Crafted to bring the full potential of VR to-life, it is the worlds most secure and manageable wearable VR PC2 ever created.

Virtual reality is changing the way people learn, communicate and create, said Xavier Garcia, vice president and general manager, Z Workstations, HP Inc. Making the most of this technology requires a collaborative relationship between customers and partners. As a leader in technology, HP is uniting powerful commercial VR solutions, including new products like the HP Z VR Backpack, with customer needs to empower VR experiences our customers can use today to reinvent the future.

The opportunities for commercial VR are limitless for businesses in product design, architecture, healthcare, first responder training, automotive and entertainment. Emerging technologies like VR create breakthrough experiences for customers from reinventing the buying experience in automotive showrooms to changing the way hospitals train their staff.

HPs Winning Approach to VR

HPs approach to virtual reality is founded upon its rich history of product innovation and deeply rooted customer relationships. HP works as an extension of its customers businesses, which enables it to deliver the most immersive technologies that help businesses lead their industries. HP technology not only provides commercial-grade reliability, but also established world-class partnerships that bring together the complete VR ecosystem with Intel, NVIDIA, Technicolor, HTC Vive and others.

The company is investing in immersive virtual and augmented reality technologies to give customers and partners superb tools for commercial VR use cases. This effort solidifies HPs long-term commitment to VR and helping customers use VR to reinvigorate their business. Thirteen immersion centers will open later this year in Palo Alto, Houston, Boise, Fort Collins, Stockholm, London, Paris, Barcelona, Boeblingen, Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore, and have been designed so customers can have an immersive experience using HP VR technology and receive consulting and learn how to best deploy VR devices within their business to streamline workflows.

The Mobility to Transform HP Z VR Backpack

The HP Z VR Backpack solution provides the freedom to move and maintain total immersion with high-octane visual performance and docking capabilities that transform it into a manageable, powerful desktop PC experience. The HP Z VR Backpack is a catalyst for more powerful VR experiences across many enterprises and businesses including the following use case examples:

With the workstation-class HP Z VR Backpack, the full potential of VR is brought to-life. HPs fully immersive and untethered VR Backpack is light with an ergonomic backpack design and hot swappable batteries to provide unrestricted freedom within an immersive experience. It has high-end processing power and the latest high-fidelity graphic solution to help prevent disruptive dropped frames so users can work in VR for as long as needed. The Intel Core i7 vPro processor provides the power to process applications quickly and includes the vPro chipset. The HP Z VR Backpack is the first wearable VR PC in the market with the NVIDIA Quadro P5200 with a huge 16GB video memory3. Finally, its docking solution lets digital creators quickly transition back and forth between high powered desktop for content design and wearable VR PC to validate creations. The HTC Vive Business Edition HMD (sold separately) is part of the HP VR portfolio. HP Z VR Backpack is scheduled to be available in September starting at $3,299 USD. The datasheet is available here.

The HP VR Product Portfolio

HPs versatile, high-powered devices empower customers to create and consume VR content. HPs commercial grade products are designed for mission critical business applications that require high levels of security, manageability, reliabilty and ISV certified applications.

The HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation delivers ultimate power and performance and can be configured with the optimal horsepower and graphics solutions to bring VR content to-life in an ultra-smooth 90 FPS VR experience.

HP Z Desktop Workstations are designed to create visually stimulating, accurate and compelling VR content. HP Z Workstations desktops feature the latest processors and graphics cards and are built to stay quiet, cool and reliable for graphic-intensive tasks.

The HP EliteDesk 800 G3 Tower, a VR-certified PC, features high performance and expandability in a stylishly redesigned 26 percent smaller chassis for the modern workplace. It is ideal for companies wanting to future-proof their technology and deliver state-of-the-art capabilities.

The OMEN X Compact Desktop brings gamers an immersive experience. The factory-overclocked GPU from NVIDIA and versatile form factor means it can dock and undock quickly for gaming anywhere or can be used as a backpack for an untethered consumer VR gaming experience.

Project Mars

HP also announced HP Mars Home Planet, a project in partnership with NVIDIA, Technicolor, Fusion, Autodesk, Unreal, Launch Forth and Vive. The collaboration will create a global online co-creation community to reinvent life on Mars for one million humans, in virtual reality.

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HP, Inc. (HPQ) Presents Virtual Reality Solutions & Services for ... - StreetInsider.com

S. Alexander Gerould @OD_Gerould

UTICA Several downtown Utica buildings are going to look a little different.

At a recent meeting of the citys Scenic & Historic Preservation Commission, board members approved several Certificates of Appropriateness for seven building owners to make exterior improvements to their properties.

The work, which will be done by Bonacci Architects, is part of the citys Faade Improvement Loan Program. The program is focused on rehabilitating blighted commercial buildings within commercial thoroughfares that are adjacent to residential neighborhoods.

The city received approximately 20 applications for the program.

"For the past several years, the city has offered a facade grant program for businesses along largely Bleecker Street from Genesee Street to Albany Street," said Brian Thomas, the city's commissioner of urban and economic development. "This past year, the mayor asked that we change our focus and focus on Genesee Street essentially from Oriskany Boulevard to Oneida Square."

The city has allocated $90,000 in 2016-17 funds with additional funds likely to be allocated in the 2017-18 program year for the loan program, according to a request for proposal for architectural services sent out by the city. The program is a federally funded program through theU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program.

"We didn't limit the amount of people that could participate," Thomas said. "There's a limit on the dollars that are available."

Forgivable loans of up to $22,500 will be awarded based on a rating system, according to the request for proposal. In order to receive the full $22,500, the property owner must commit a private match of at least $7,500 for a total project budget of $30,000. Any cost overruns beyond the $30,000 will be the responsibility of the private property owner, according to the request.

Project components eligible for funding, according to the city's website, include things such as exterior painting, repairing or replacing windows, awnings, signs and display-area lighting.

Items not eligible include work completed prior to project funding, interior improvements or improvements not seen from a publicly owned space, security systems and business operational costs.

Black River Systems at 162 Genesee St. is one of the businesses taking part in the program.

Michael Krumme, the company's vice president, said they are looking to use the program to help replace the window that's in the front of the building. He said they wouldn't be able to fix it without the program.

"We're right on the Busy Corner, sort of a historical area and that window's been missing pieces of it ever since we moved in," Krumme said. "It's uninsulated and leaks and this is going to help us fix that."

Follow @OD_Gerould on Twitter or call him at 315-792-4995.

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7 Utica businesses to receive funding for improvements - Utica Observer Dispatch

Published: July 30, 2017 4:00 AM

The sun for a few moments will be close to 80 percent dark across northeast Ohio at 1:07 p.m. Aug. 21.

For those of us in Portage County, that's the peak time for the upcoming solar eclipse, according to Jay Ryan, who, courtesy of Roger Sidoti, spoke to Kent Rotary Tuesday.

It's weather permitting, Ryan told Rotarians, because if it is cloudy, those looking toward the heavens will not notice much except a temporary greater darkness.

An amateur astronomer who has developed an expertise concerning eclipses, Ryan maintains a website, americaneclipseusa.com, that provides easy-to-read information for people fascinated by what happens when our moon briefly passes between the sun and Earth.

Solar eclipses, his website says, happen more often than we might think, but they cast a shadow along a relatively narrow track determined by the moon's orbit. Those outside the track, where the shadow does not fall, do not notice any darkness.

Ryan's website indicates we in Portage County will experience a shadow generated by a brief 80 percent blackout of the sun. If you want to see what a 100 percent blackout looks like, wait seven years. One is scheduled to occur in 2024 and if the sky is clear, that eclipse will be dramatic.

Wyoming adventure

In follow-up discussion at Rotary, Dr. E.A Mastroianni, the dentist, mentioned his son, Ernie, photography editor for the science magazine, Discover, will travel to Casper, Wyoming where the eclipse will be 100 percent. Wyoming's cleaner atmosphere will make it easier to photograph the eclipse.

In the 1970s, while studying at Kent State University's School of Journalism, Ernie was a photographer at the Record-Courier. We experienced a near total solar eclipse while he was working at the newspaper and Ernie shot stages of the eclipse that turned out brilliantly. We published his eclipse stages across the top of Page 1.

Ernie has always been interested in science so the job of being photography editor for Nature must be a nearly perfect fit. Ernie has covered a mission to the South Pole. A website gallery he maintains has, among many photos, some of owls and birds for a birding magazine. There is a photo he took of the planet Mercury crossing between the sun and the earth with tiny Mercury so far away its shadow was too diffuse to block out sunlight. There are photos showing thousands of people carrying huge Alpen Horns at a Swiss festival.

Ernie's photography decorates his father's dental offices and provides a nice distraction from one's dental problems.

Our courthouse

Three different versions of our Portage County Courthouse are shown on the cover of a program handed out during the 1960 dedication ceremonies for the courthouse we have now. Industrialist Jack Schafer, an expert on architectural preservation and a collector, shared this program.

The photo in the program's upper left shows the 1830 Greek Revival Courthouse and Jail on the square in downtown Ravenna. Greek Revival was typical of New England architecture in the Western Reserve, when it was first populated by New Englanders, mostly from Connecticut. Connecticut had "reserved" this section of Northeast Ohio from its original land-grant that stretched from seat to sea. Many Connecticut speculators bought huge tracts of land here to sell to settlers. Benjamin Tappan, the founder of Ravenna, was one of these speculators.

Greek Revival was the popular architectural style of the early 19th century and most of early Ravenna, including its commercial buildings, were in that style. The Phenix Block that Coleman Professional Services now owns, was primarily in this style. An 1877 remodeling by the IOOF changed part of it to a more florid version of commercial architecture, Jack said.

The lower left photo is of our 1882 courthouse. It was attached to the front of its 1830 predecessor, which the county had outgrown. Jack said our High Victorian Gothic courthouse showed more architectural exuberance than most Ohio courthouses of the era and that may be why its loss is still mourned today. It was well suited to Ravenna, defining the central public space of the community and it coordinated well with the commercial buildings that Henry Riddle constructed later, especially Riddle Block No. 1.

The image on the right of the program is a rendering of the current courthouse built during the modernist era that swept the USA after World War II. Its austere design clashed with the late 19th and early 20th century style commercial buildings that remain dominant in Ravenna today. Two decades ago some unflattering comments about the Portage County Courthouse appeared in a book about Ohio's courthouses. The commissioners were remodeling the courthouse's interior back then and asked the architect to soften its plain modernist exterior. He did so by attaching a pedimented portico on the front.

To enhance understanding of Ravenna's architectural heritage, Jack Schafer is providing interesting hour-long walking tours of the downtown to raise funds for the Main Street Ravenna program. The next one deals with the community's civic buildings. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 17 with a repeat session at 11 a.m. Aug. 26.

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David Dix: Elcipse offers rare opportunity - Ravenna Record Courier