MANLIUS It was the land which first brought Frank and Frances Pavone to 8901 Peck Hill Road in Manlius in 1994.

We fell in the love with the land, Franks said. It had just the most breathtaking views of the sunrise and the sunset.

Frances said she felt like she was on top of the world when she was there, watching the lights of Syracuse twinkle in the darkness.

It was there, on those 11 acres, that they decided they would live and raise a family. And the place where Frank would design his masterpiece.

With little to no experience in architecture or home design, Frank Pavone planned his new house, sculpting his plans into Styrofoam, creating something which would resemble the elegant villas he remembered from his native Italy.

I like to learn new things, Frank said when asked how he did it, before adding, modestly, it was persistence and not so much talent.

His wife, who selected the paint and was responsible for much of the decorating, disagrees.

He is very good, she said. He is a man of many talents.

The finished product, with four bedrooms and six bathrooms, was exactly what they had intended; a place where people can feel comfortable and relax.

I was so at home there, Frank said, mentioning how a sense of serenity would wash over him as he drove up the long driveway under a canopy of trees after a long day at work.

The design of the home also takes advantage of the thing which first brought the Pavones there.

Frank says his favorite place in the house is the balcony off the master suite which looks out over the quiet peaceful backyard.

I enjoy having a cup of coffee there in the morning, he said, and enjoy the views of nature. It so serene.

For Frances, her favorite spot is one floor below.

Off the phenomenal chefs kitchen, is a small alcove where she enjoys reading while looking out over the incredible back patio area designed by landscape architect. Edward Basta.

Today, they both feel the time is right to move on. The home is too big for just two people.

But they have mixed feelings.

We have put a lot of love there and our kids have grown up there, Frank says. We have grown very attached to it.

I hope the next people love it, Frances said, and make their own memories.

The couple shared a poem that Frank wrote about they designed and lived in for almost 25 years, entitled A Patch of Paradise.

Its last stanza reads:

Here my burden I ease, my mind revitalize

and in the morning, excited as a child I rise.

When the slow knell rings for my demise

lay me here, on my little patch of paradise.

An open house is scheduled for Sunday, February 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

THE DETAILS

Address: 8901 Peck Hill Road, Manlius, N.Y. 13104

Price: $850,000

Size: 4,887 square feet

Acreage: 11.32 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $3,131 (based on this week's national average rate of 3.70 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $24,962 (Based on assessed value of $658,700)

Built: 1995

School District: Fayetteville-Manlius

Kitchen: The incredible chefs kitchen, Frances Pavone says is the place in the house for people to congregate. It features granite countertops and high-end built-in appliances like a Viking stove and double ovens. There is plenty of storage in the cherry wood cabinetry. A custom-made wooden butcher-block counter is among Frances favorite features, built low to kneed bread for baking. There is a dining area off the kitchen which can seat ten people. The small alcove off the kitchen is among Frances favorite spots for reading and drinking coffee while looking out onto the patio.

Living areas: The home was designed by owner Frank Pavone to be a place of comfort and relaxation. He also wanted did not want people to walk into a room to get into another room. The home features soaring ceilings in the front foyer and living room. The family room has a fireplace and looks out onto the patio and swimming pool area. The home includes an office or study behind double doors and a formal dining room which can seat at least 25 people. One of the homes more interesting features is an elevator which was installed for the owners elderly parents but comes in handy bringing things up from the basement.

Master bedroom: The spacious master suite is another favorite of the owners. We really love that room. The bedroom is massive and includes a gigantic walk-in closet. The room features a gas fireplace and a coffee bar. A balcony off the room is over the patio and loves out over the property. A great place to take advantage of the natural views of the property in the morning and at sunset. There are a total of four bedrooms in the house.

Bathrooms: There are six full bathrooms in the house. The master bedroom features double vanities, a tub and separate shower unit. Each of the four bedrooms has its own private bathroom. The first-floor bathroom has a unique Jacuzzi-style tub.

Finished basement: The spacious finished basement was the place for the children to play. It has a full bathroom and is roomy enough for a pool table, ping-pong table and an exercise room. It has access to the outside.

Outdoors: It was the 11 acres which first brought the Pavones to this spot. They fell in love with the land and its gorgeous views. The owners call the property very private, very serene, and wanted something which would resemble an Italian villa. A very long driveway is covered by trees which create a canopy effect in the summer. Two rows of pine trees in the back continue the privacy. There is an attached, heated three-car garage with extra-wide doors. Landscape architect Edward Basta designed the beautiful back patio with in-ground swimming pool and installed propane barbecue grill. There is also an installed waterfall feature.

Agent: James and Tracey Siciliano

The House2Home Team

Hunt Real Estate ERA

Address: 7650 Highbridge Road, Suite 210, Manlius, NY 13104

Phone: (315) 877-2987 or (315) 256-0596

Email: house2home@huntrealestate.com

Website: House2HomeCNY.com

If you know of a beautiful or interesting house currently up for sale, please consider sending a nomination for it to be featured as a future House of the Week. Send an email with the listing to home@syracuse.com.

Do you know of any older homes in Central New York which have fallen on hard times but have a lot of potential should they be restored to their original grandeur? A fixer-upper with a lot of potential? Consider nominating them to our new feature, Save this Home, in which we will spotlight grand houses of the past around Central New York that need to be saved. Send nominations to home@syracuse.com.

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House of the Week: Manlius home was designed to resemble an Italian villa - syracuse.com

ARLINGTON The City Council Monday formally adopted a code of ethics to guide its members in how they should conduct themselves in office, and how unprofessional behavior will be handled if someone steps over the line.

City Attorney Steve Peiffle and City Administrator Paul Ellis added the new language to the Councils existing procedural rules of professional conduct, which was prompted by an incident involving an outgoing councilmember last year.

Peiffle said while researching several codes of ethics that focused more on financial conflicts of interest that are already handled under state law, he felt the council was looking more toward an aspirational statement.

The code of ethics as adopted touches on personal integrity, avoiding the appearance of impropriety, treating others respectfully and refraining from abusive conduct, accusations or verbal attacks while in their role as elected officials.

The code also calls for respecting the decision-making process, and conducting themselves professionally, courteously and attentively when discussing business at hand. Additionally, the ethics code says city elected officials should base their decisions on the merits and substance of the matter at hand, rather than on unrelated considerations.

If a Council member violates a rule, the presiding officer can call that member to order, who must then be silent except to explain, or continue in order. If the presiding officer is the violator in question, any other council member may step in to call that fellow elected official to order.

Additional consequences may include a verbal admonition, written reprimand, censure, expulsion from the meeting at which the conduct is occurring, removal of the Councilmember from committee chair positions or committee memberships, or removal of intergovernmental duties, based on an affirmative vote of a majority of the council.

Banishment for such behavior in the councils presence will require a majority vote from the council.

Peiffle pointed out that, short of removal from office, the council already has power under state law to impose punishment on its members for violating council rules or state law.

City Councilmember Debra Nelson said her intent bringing the matter forward last November was for the council to have tools that lay out expectations of themselves when conducting the citizens business, a code of behavior, and steps for what happens next if a member violates the rules.

Councilmember Jan Schuette said, Hopefully well never have to refer to it (the ethics code). But at least weve got something in there now, and we didnt before.

Councilmember Mike Hopson said his rule of thumb in meetings and workshop: That you dont interrupt people, dont start calling people names; all that bad stuff that just looks terrible and is really out of line.

Councilmember Jesica Stickles offered whether a no vote on a meeting agenda item should come with an explanation for other officials to better understand the reasoning political or otherwise. Fellow councilmembers thought a directive bumped up against freedom of expression.

Schuette said, Anytime I have voted no on something, I can assure you the councils going to know why I did it.

In other Council actions:

* Approved a request for bidders to replace the City Council Chambers microphone system, which may run up to $30,000 for the related equipments, installation and training. The existing system was installed when the building opened in 2005 and has since become outdated and prone to cutting out, with worn, messy cabling strewn on the floor another challenge . The Information Technology director is recommending a wireless system with 12 new tabletop microphone and charging stations that will integrate with the rooms other existing hardware. Proposals would come in March, with installation and a usable system in place by mid-April.

* Accepted dedication of right-of-way on 180th Street from the SmartCAP building and on 63rd Avenue from the new Dantrawl Fisheries & Industrial Supplies company to put in a trail extending through the business park located east of Arlington Airport.

* Appointed Jan Berg to the Planning Commission. Berg has been involved in municipal government for over 30 years, with eight serving as city administrator Lake Stevens. She was also involved in that citys planning activities including the 20-year comprehensive plan update, two subarea plans and major annexations.

* Approved replacing Arlington Fire Districts Medic #48 unit for $236,000. The 2014 International with just over 100,000 miles was set to be replaced this year. To save $50,000, the district is removing the patient area box off the existing EMS unit, then updating and remounting it on a new chassis.

Read more:
City Council adopts code of ethics they hope they will never need - Marysville Globe

Immerse yourself in the funky art and fun products at House of SHOWFIELDS, a revolutionary new art and retail space in Manhattan. On a special visit with Untapped New York Insiders, you can get a top to bottom look at this innovative new space filled with interactive art installations and pop up shops. At SHOWFIELDS, shoppers dont just get to look at products, they get to experience them.

Photograph Courtesy of SHOWFIELDS

The Insider experience will start at The Loft and Roofdeck on the top floor of SHOWFIELDS four-story building. The loft is an ever-changing space where community programming is held. From art workshops to yoga classes, pop-up concerts to comedy shows, and collaborative branded events, theres always something new to engagewith, learn about, and enjoy. The Loft includes a gorgeous rooftop space overlooking the Noho skyline, currently covered and heated for the winter. After a short mingling session in The Loft, guests on our Insiders tour will dive into House of SHOWFIELDS. After exploring The Loft, guests on our Insiders tour will dive into the House OF SHOWFIELDS (by literally taking a slide).

The loft is an ever-changing space where community programming is held. From art workshops to yoga classes, pop-up concerts to comedy shows, and collaborative branded events, theres always something new to engagewith, learn about, and enjoy. The Loft includes a gorgeous rooftop space overlooking the Noho skyline, currently covered and heated for the winter. After a short mingling session in The Loft, guests on our Insiders tour will dive into House of SHOWFIELDS.

Photograph Courtesy of SHOWFIELDS

A short slide down to the second floor transports you into an immersive theatre experience that bridges art and retail. Here you will get to touch, smell, eat, and test all products and artwork onsite. House of SHOWFIELDS is a self-guided experience, but Insiders will have a personal guide who will share more in-depth knowledge on each art installation. Throughout the experience you will see work by artists like George Skoufas, Roses et Pivoines and Nat Girsberger, among others.

Photograph Courtesy of SHOWFIELDS

Dont forget, SHOWFIELDS is a store, so after you test the products in House of SHOWFIELDS and emerge from the wonderful art installations, you get to shop! The Lab showcases all of the products found within the House of SHOWFIELDS experience. Beyond that, guests can explore two floors of pop up shops from direct-to-consumer brands. The brands at SHOWFIELDS include purveyors of home goods, apparel, tech, fitness, accessories and more. Each brand is set up in its own unique showroom.

If you are an Untapped New York Insider, you can experience the entirety of SHOWFIELDS at one of our special visits with the Showfields team leader on Sunday, February 16th and Sunday, February 23rd. Registration for those experiences opens today at noon!

Book Here

See our full list of Untapped New York Insiders member eventsandour upcoming public tours.

Read more:
Slide Down Through the Colorful House of SHOWFIELDS, an Immersive Art Experience - Untapped New York - Untapped New York

THE 21million redevelopment of@colegcambriaYale will transform education in Wrexham.

The Grove Park Road site is due to be finished in July and open this September in time for the 2020/21 academic year.

Improved facilities include a new-look kitchen and restaurant, a sports complex, cutting-edge study spaces, IT suites and a 200-seat conference hall.

Bodelwyddan-based Wynne Construction is ahead of schedule and much of the 96,000 sq ft building has been completed already, including the concrete flooring.

Vertical insulation cladding is in the process of being covered with rain-screen cladding to finish and water-proof external walls, all classroom and office walls are constructed, and electrical and mechanical works are underway.

In the coming weeks a crane will be on-site to lift plant equipment onto the roof, solar panels are to be installed and the new entrance from Chester Road begins taking shape.

Cambria Chief Executive Yana Williams looks forward to unveiling the building and further enhancing the student experience.

The revamped Yale site will impact on learners in Wrexham for generations to come, said Ms Williams.

Coleg Cambria has invested tens of millions in new buildings across north east Wales notably Bersham Road in Wrexham, Deeside Sixth Form Centre and Cambria Business School in Northop and there is more to come at our land-based education campus in Llysfasi, where a rural education hub is under construction.

It is an exciting time for the college, and while the facilities are important this commitment to providing high-quality, modern and innovative study environments shows our students, their families and the local community they are our number one priority.

She added: I am delighted swift progress has been made and the new Yale building will be ready ahead of the next academic year.

Our young people can be inspired and challenged to meet their potential here and progress to the best university courses, apprenticeships and employment. We cant wait to see the completed project and open its doors this September.

Graham Dickson, Contracts Manager at Wynne Construction, confirmed the scheme was progressing well.

The internal partition walls and plaster finishes are nearing completion to the first and second floors and the under-floor heating installation and floor screeds are due to start in the next couple of weeks, he added.

The team has worked very well together on all aspects so far and, overall, the project is on programme and budget.

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21m Coleg Cambria development will transform education in north east Wales - FE News

When attending red-carpet affairs such as award shows and premieres, celebrity realty agents are likely to don Jimmy Choo heels or a Tom Ford tux. Youll spot Yawar Charlie, however, in a traditional Pakistani kurta.

I always try to wear South Asian clothes to represent a part of the world we dont get to see much in a positive light, said the Karachi, Pakistan, native. But making such a bold fashion statement can be too risky when selling pricey homes a dictum that Charlie and his fellow agents with Compass Aaron Kirman Group advise their clients on CNBCs Listing Impossible, which premiered Jan. 15.

On the show, Kirman and crew deliver tough love along with some staggering staging budgets to owners of hot-mess mansions that wont bust out of listings. Those jumbo acrylic animal statues that make a Laguna Niguel home resemble the set for Wild Kingdom? Theyve gotta go along with millions off the asking price.

To sell such untamed listings, Charlie uses active listening skills drawn from his former acting career his grandfather was Indias famed Noor Mohammed Charlie, a pioneer of the Bollywood film industry. The elder star played comic hero roles, and as a fan and mimic of Charlie Chaplin, he took Charlie as his surname and copied Chaplins trademark toothbrush stache.

We chatted with Yawar Charlie from his Carthay Square duplex, shared with husband Jason Miller. Queen Latifah married the pair during the 2014 Grammy telecast, one of 33 couples who tied the knot in a ceremony soundtracked by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Madonna.

Q: Listing Impossible often treads into the ever-juicy realm of homeowners questionable taste. How do you tell sellers that their lousy decor is stalling a sale?

A: I always, always tell sellers, Look, this is not a commentary on how you live, or your taste level, even though it might be, right? I had a client it literally looked like Liberace threw up everywhere. I said, You have to let me do my job. Im going to paint everything beige, and we need to stage this house as simply as possible. We sold it in two days.

Q: Do you think sellers of multimillion-dollar homes easily misjudge the value of their homes, given the myriad emotions that are tied up in such properties?

A: People dont pay attention to negative market trends, right? You only hear the news that you want to hear. Sellers will latch on to some positive news saying, Hey, I had an appraisal from two years ago and its at this. Well, that was two years ago and the market is very different; the market is different than it was three months ago. And were here to tell you that your house is no longer worth that. Its a challenge when you have a seller who feels that they know the market better than you do.

Q: On the show, your client attempts to unload a 6,200-square-foot Lake Hollywood property that has a choppy floor plan and a concrete-laden industrial look. How do you deal?

A: We come in and repackage, relaunch and also retool expectations. We had to warm it up; it was very cold. Its kind of this unicorn in a neighborhood where it doesnt necessarily belong. The lesson learned is when you build your dream home, it may not be everyones dream home.

Q: How can homeowners avoid owning such white elephants for example, avoid fake grass?

A: Astroturf can be beautiful, but you have to get the right kind.

Fixtures, flooring, marble all of it can be beautiful and all of it can be gaudy. I always look at homes as investments and, what is the next person going to see and do here?

Ive had situations where theres $250,000 worth of beautiful marble just installed and the buyer was going to tear it out because it was just not their style.

The bleeding heart in me always feels bad when people, no matter how much money they have, sort of waste it on certain things.

Q: To keep the mojo flowing, an agent on your team cleanses his cellphone with lighted sage, and while driving affirms, I am one contact away from an explosion of success. Whats your go-to ritual?

A: I have a business coach who literally changed my life. She always said, Be happy for other peoples success, because when other people succeed that gives you the permission to succeed. And I do a really wonderful visualization every morning about how I want to see my day go. That puts a smile on my face.

Link:
CNBC's 'Listing Impossible' delivers hard truths to wayward homeowners - The Union Leader

As the ProAV sector gears up for ISE 2020, opening its doors on February 11, 2020, heres a review of what Futuresource sees as the key trends and technologies likely to emerge from the worlds largest exhibition for AV and systems integration professionals.

Brought to you by the professional AV team at Futuresource, this pre-show roundup will help you navigate the technology landscape. With more than 80,000 attendees expected from across the globe, and more than 1,300 exhibitors, theres a lot to take in. If you need any further guidance, the Futuresource team will be on hand throughout the event to ensure you get the best possible experience.

As smart buildings gain traction, we should see companies on the show floor depicting the transformation from todays open-plan offices into working environments that integrate smart technology to enhance and improve the office experience. Look out for a change of emphasis, from simple lighting and heating control to promoting increased wellbeing and improved workplace productivity.

Meeting room booking systems that integrate more succinctly into building management systems (BMS), immersive audio, voice and gesture control, and products using 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are all solutions that Futuresource expects to be featured across the show floor. Watch out for a continued shift from dedicated hardware into software-based solutions, as PC processing power becomes more affordable.

Theres no doubt that data will be at the forefront of pro AV industry growth moving forward, and this will be reflected on the show floor. Whether thats through digital experience platforms (DXP) in signage, AVMS in corporate environments or less complex analytics tools tailored towards education. Companies will be demonstrating analytics that offers the potential for end-users to gain far greater value from their AV investment, helping them to design cost-saving and resource-efficient initiatives. Buy-in to signage platforms, whether integrated into display solutions or not, also raises the potential to lock customers into respective ecosystems, providing a new way for AV brands to foster customer loyalty.

As tier-two vendors and players from other sectors enter the video and control market, Futuresource expects to see launches of more mid-range products from the tier-one vendors. Alongside this, visitors should also see more vendors launching low bandwidth codecs like HEVC and AVB.

Looking to AV over IP, Futuresource anticipates more vendors announcing that they have joined the Software Defined Video over Ethernet (SDVoE) Alliance or Dantes AV Alliance. There could also be an Application Specified Integrated Circuit (ASIC) from the SDVOE, with examples integrated into projectors, wall plates and other equipment. Cloud-based room control systems are also likely to be a hot product at the show.

The corporate space is being dominated by two mounting trends: collaboration and connectivity. Ecosystems and their interoperability will be a key focus at ISE 2020, as will further launches of solutions offering these features.

Many of the interactive display brands that have spent the last week at Bett, the international education show in London, will switch their focus to show their corporate displays range at ISE. Due to the close proximity of the two events, some have chosen ISE over Bett, so expect to see more than two dozen brands exhibiting interactive flat panel displays (IFPDs) at the show. Fleshing out the features has been a core trend for IFPDs in recent years, primarily concentrating on the integration of collaboration tools like cameras, high-quality audio conferencing and wireless presentation. Futuresource expects this trend to continue, with more vendors incorporating sensors into the displays, as meeting room analytics becomes an increasingly hot topic for the AV industry.

Expect the worlds leading front projector brands to focus on flexibility at ISE 2020. Mapped installations will envelop the show-floor, astounding visitors and demonstrating projections creative potential. Watch out for the increased availability of high-bright and 4K solutions in the high-end, while solid-state and connectivity will be a focus in the lower-end. Advances in ultra-short throw and laser projection techniques will also be on display.

Its projections ability to sit across a range of verticals, from education to signage, that will be evident, as the industry underlines its continued relevance and attempts to fight off competition from LCD, OLED and LED.

The rapid growth in direct view LED walls will continue to spread across the show floor. However, this year there will be a strong focus on sub-1mm displays, with a host of vendors expected to show 0.9-millimeter, 0.7-millimeter and even 0.5-millimeter options. Yet, confusion surrounding the underlying technology will still abound, as vendor marketing materials reference MiniLED, MicroLED, X-in-1 and, to a lesser extent, COB. Visitors may also see improvements to contrast ratio, showcasing HDR content, as advances could be used for more precisely controlled backlighting.

Beyond pixel pitch, Futuresource expects to see more all-in-one solutions from vendors, targeting presentation spaces with high-resolution walls. This will reflect the growing awareness and sales performance from this segment in the last 12 months. Closely linked to both these topics, there will be conversations around improved durability, which is a much-needed feature. Also, in a world that has been so heavily focused on standardization to drive volume, watch out for creative solutions, particularly flexible and transparent LED.

8K resolutions are expected to be the focus for many flat-panel vendors. Still very much in its infancy for professional displays, 8K is becoming a key demonstration technology, highlighting applications where the extra detail could be appreciated and needed. In addition, Futuresource expects analytics for both signage and presentation spaces to take center stage. On the signage side, analytics are become ever-more essential, as advertisers explore ways to target visitors with tailored messages, rather than off-the-peg messaging, which often fails to connect.

For LCD video walls, visitors will see a continued focus on very small bezels. More vendors are expected to show the latest generation of Razor Narrow Bezels (RNB), where images are less obscured by the join. This will become more important, as LCD tries to impede the advances of Narrow Pixel Pitch LED products, emphasizing its economical appeal when compared with the very expensive NPP product.

Large-format displays have the potential to migrate from commercial to residential installations, though still many years away. However, this illustrates the beginnings of ambient intelligence and screens that can blend into the environment. Expect to see new display technologies that include live projection mapping and blending. Volumetric display and point-cloud capture techniques may also be showcased during the event.

ISE 2020 could be the best year yet for audio, with installed live sound targeted at theatres, stadiums and other venue spaces a key feature during the show. Be prepared for a buzz around the opportunities in small venues, auditoria, lecture theatres and corporate event rental.

In commercial audio, new and existing surface mount and ceiling speakers will continue to play an important role, riding the wave of retail refurbishment, hotel installs and large PA and background music projects. The show will also be important for brands aiming for the vast quantity of small businesses, bars and cafes that need the right balance between usability and sound quality. Watch out for the continued overlap of residential brands and the potential for consumer brands to impact this market.

In the workplace collaboration space, expect innovations attuned to the video conferencing trend and the frequent discussion of DSP systems and networking. While audio, visual and IT will all combine to form integrated offerings.

Watch out for new hybrid lighting fixtures and laser-based offerings in the moving head professional lighting and console sector. Higher output Lamps and LED-based fixtures will be on display, along with more high-end fixtures, with an MRSP above $6K, as this segment becomes more competitive.

Futuresource also expects a focus on more output with less power, in terms of lumens per watt, and a wider offering of IP rated fixtures for use outdoors and in dusty or damp environments. There could also be more integration of moving head pro lighting with LED walls and projection.

Futuresource is here.

Excerpt from:
Heres the Major Tech Youll See at ISE 2020 - rAVe [PUBS]

Laurence Kemball-Cook is not your typical entrepreneur. Described by The Daily Telegraph as a boy genius, last month he got Prime Minister Boris Johnson to jump up and down on his award-winning flooring and the image immediately went viral.

His company Pavegen has wonthe backing of the richest men in the UK, the Hinduja brother, and his technology will be used in the creation of $7.5bn Bleutech Park in Las Vegas, billed as the worlds firstenergy-efficient mini-city.

Our vision is to cover every single city in the world with our technology, said Kemball-Cook.

Our involvement with Bleutech Park will be instrumental because it will get us to a point where we can mass produce our kinetic energy tiles.

A keen mountain climber, Kemball-Cooks green credentials are evidencedfurtherby the fact that he lives in an eco-sustainable house boat in London and even has a pet duck called Billy.

His story begins after graduating from Loughborough University with a degree in Industrial Design and Technology. He joined E.ON and worked on a sustainable street lighting project but it didnt work out.

Undeterred, the entrepreneur founded Pavegen in 2009 and - five years of research later - invented a floor system that instantly converted kinetic energy from footfall into off-grid electricity, data and rewards.

Today Pavegen has installed over 200 permanent and experiential projects in 36 countries but the most memorable one remains the first.

Kembell-Cook broke into a building site in Londons South Bank and installed his first ever prototype in the concrete floor. As people walked over the floor they created energy and it was enough to convince a company called Westfield to place a 200,000 order.

The rest, as they say, is history. Today Pavegen has grown to 50 staff and Kembell-Cook has worked with iconic companies including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Google, Heathrow, Lexus, Samsung and Shell.

Recent installations have included smart city developments, retail destinations, sports stadia and education establishments in Hong Kong, India, Korea, Thailand, UK and USA. Clients include Abu Dhabi International Airport, Google and Siemens.

Highlights have included creating the worlds largest energy harvesting floor with Google to launch the companys new flagship smartphone in Berlin and powering a building in Hong Kong by a running track that surrounds it.

According to their website the technology works like this. Each footstep on a Pavegen walkway generates between two and four joules of off-grid electrical energy or around five watts of power for the duration of the footstep. Bluetooth beacons in the system connect to smartphones, rewarding users for their steps and generating permission-based analytics.

Pavegen is still a sub 5m revenue company but its founder is thinking big. His vision is simple. He wants people who walk into work in the morning to power the lights on the way home.

Kembell-Cook says programmes like Blue Planet with Sir Richard Attenborough and the work of teenage environmentalist Greta Thunberg have made sustainability real and a priority.

Away from Pavegen, Kemball-Cook is a regular keynote speaker on technology and entrepreneurship, speaking all over the world including at CES, the RSA, London Tech Week, GITEX and the Conservative Party Conference.

The entrepreneur is passionate about smart cities but says they should be created with people in mind and not machines.

Kembell-Cook is one of 12 speakers taking in BusinessClouds SmartTech conference on February 12. The other speakers include James Backhouse, CEO of Skarp; Niko Kavakiotis, head of building performance and sustainability at Siemens Building Technologies; and Dawn Embry, director of strategy and performance at Mobica.

The rest is here:
News Meet the man changing the world - a step at a time Entreprenuer Laurence Kemball-Cook - BusinessCloud

Running cabling in a few inches of space between trains and tunnels. Smashing apart rooms to rebuild fireproof walls. Drilling holes through foot-thick floors for cooling. Setting networking equipment on fire to see how it drips. This is how engineers at Canada Water station have spent the past few months, in a race to install 4G on the London Underground for the first time and meet a tight political deadline.

It's the lament of the spoiled Londoner that there's no mobile connection on the Underground, as though it's perfectly reasonable to expect 4G service under the Thames in a tunnel that's part of a 157-year-old train network.

But Moscow, Seoul and Toyko have connected commutes, so why can't we? The difference between those networks and our own is tunnel size. It's not easy or cheap to install 4G networks in the space of a few inches, and that's only the first of plenty of hurdles facing Transport for London (TfL) engineers and contractor Installation Technology who are trying to bring mobile connections to the Underground for the first time.

"We've been working on the idea for the better part of ten years now with no solution," says Shashi Verma, chief technology officer for TfL. So what changed? The Home Office needed a new Emergency Services Network (ESN) and money suddenly appeared. Now, the systems for ESN and commercial 4G are being trialled in parallel in a project covering the tunnels and platforms from Westminster to just beyond North Greenwich, as well as most of the station areas.

If all goes to plan, the system will go live in March, giving commuters connectivity in tunnels underground along that stretch of the Jubilee line. And if you look closely, you'll be able to see where it comes from.

Between stations of the Jubilee line, in the inches-wide gap between the train window and the wall, try to spot the black cables running along the tunnels. These are called "leaky feeders" and they are seeping radio connectivity into the tunnels, in the same way as a water pipe that's been methodically slashed would spray at intervals.

At the core of the cables is a copper wire, but the casing that normally protects the radio waves has regular apertures to passively leak out the signal.

"It's a fairly basic technology that's very low maintenance," says Martin Osborne, Head of Mobile Infrastructure Delivery at TfL. "We've been running systems using leaky feeder for 20 years."

Two leaky feeder cables have been installed: one for the commercial service and a second for the Home Office's emergency network. They join a leaky feeder cable already in place, used for drivers' radios and all three need to squeeze into the few spare inches between the tunnel wall and the trains hurtling by, without interfering with each other's signal.

To manage that, engineers used lasers to scan tunnels and 3D imaging to virtually install the cables, to see if it fit alongside trains - and discovered that they could risk placing them as close as 100mm away from each other without interference.

The team running thick cable from 500-metre drums in the dead of night when the tube isn't running have an even bigger problem to contend with: they might have connectivity, but it's not strong enough for anyone to really be able to use it.

Higher frequencies are faster and have more bandwidth, but need to be helped along by repeaters. While the emergency network happily operates at 800MHz via the leaky feeder alone, the signal strength is nowhere near enough for anyone on the train to use 4G.

TfL has built a hidden room with massive boxes of high-powered radio equipment, like a home router at a massive scale. That sends the data via a hub to convert the radio signal to optical, letting it hop onto a fibre line that also runs through the tunnels; look for the thinner, bright yellow cable along the walls. On the platforms, there are high-powered directional radios pointing into the tunnels, as well as low-power units above commuters heads, both of which connect to fibre and on to operators networks.

TfL has installed 4G server rooms to guarantee coverage in tunnels

TfL

The aim is that if you're on the train, your phone won't switch between systems, but if you emerge and head up escalators to the ticket hall, then you'll move onto a local network. "All we're doing is taking the signal from mobile operators and putting it through various different antennas and broadcasting it out across the tunnels and into the stations," says Osborne.

The eight stations in the trial are served by a "base station hotel" a mini data centre for each of the four main 4G operators to keep their own separate equipment at Canada Water station.

For the wider network, one will be needed every 15 kilometers or so, meaning as many as ten will be required. Here at Canada Water, EE has its own hotel in a nondescript room along the bus station, while the other three are setting up shop in a long corridor a few levels underground; as of our visit, only Vodafone and EE had installed equipment with weeks to go until launch.

All that may sound complex, but the system is straightforward to network specialists, who are using equipment bought off the shelf. "The challenge for us is doing it in a very difficult environment, underground, which is noisy, dirty, old and has no space," says Osborne. And that's spurred the design, with passive equipment such as leaky feeders used in locations where maintenance is a challenge, because no-one wants to have to do this work again.

To get fibre in, the pavement was ripped up. To install cooling in the other areas below ground, fist-sized holes were drilled through the concrete flooring.

On a tour of the station, one of the engineers took visitors down a bright hallway in the hidden side of Canada Water station, slipping a key into a lock at the end. "We won't all fit in," he joked, pulling the door open to reveal not another hallway or room, but the equivalent of a broadband cabinet. For fire-safety, TfL had to build a foot-wide structure out of breeze-block to house a dozen cables plugged into ports.

EE's data hotel looks like any server room, with rows of racks filled with networking equipment. But it needed a new wall for fire containment and its networking kit needed to be fire tested. That means it was taken to a lab and lit on fire, to see how material would drip from it important information for equipment installed over people's heads.

Fire isn't the only challenge. The Jubilee line is the newest part of the tube, but it still dates to 1998. Requirements were different then, so the network doesn't have enough power supply for all this additional equipment. Plus, the extra equipment gives off heat, meaning even more power is needed for cooling. To make it work, new power feeds had to be run from a local substation not easy when external permission from local residents is required and energy savings had to be found across other systems.

The installation team is already keeping an eye on temperatures outside the remit of the trial. Further down the line, trains often wait in tunnels outside Green Park station; because of the stop, trains pull hot air with them and leave some of it behind. One engineer said that spot is being monitored to see the temperature impact from a few radio boxes several stations away.

The heating and power would be less of an issue if the mobile operators were willing to upgrade their equipment to low-power alternatives. Had this project waited three years, that shift would likely already have happened, Osborne says.

But as this is only a trial, it's difficult to demand operators invest in new equipment. For the full rollout, there are hopes that operators choose or are forced to upgrade to low-power kit. "We hopefully be using [this trial] as a lever to try to encourage the industry to move to low-power solutions," Osborne says. However, the arrival of 5G will only exacerbate the heating and power woes, as higher frequency equipment demands more energy and more antennas.

For now, commuters will have to make do with 4G. Progress may feel slow, but the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has lit a fire under this project. Last year, the mayor's office got in touch with Verma. "We were told in no uncertain terms you have to build something," he said, referencing the 4G rollout.

While it may have pushed the project forward, the attention from on high means added pressure. "It has been very difficult and very challenging, especially in terms of time," he told the assembled installation team, gathered together to receive a safety award. One engineer told us the time pressure was the one part of the project he would have liked to have done differently.

The mad rush to finish this trial in March may have something to do with the mayoral election in May. But of course, Khan's pressure isn't the only reason this rollout is happening. Alongside the emergency network, there are plans to hand the system to a commercial supplier to implement, selling access to the mobile operators and bringing in much needed revenue to TfL. And, for Verma, there's a further motivation.

"Delivering a train service is kind of taken for granted," he said. "Our ability to delight people is very limited." Putting Wi-Fi into the stations ahead of the 2012 Olympics did just that, Verma says. He hopes that this new feat of engineering will be enough to spark a similar effect.

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Inside the messy mission to bring 4G to the London Underground - Wired.co.uk

As easy as it is to add a second Amazon Echo smart speaker to your home network and Alexa app, it's as easy to add even more.

At its simplest, this means you can speak to the Alexa assistant from more places in the home, but there's much more you can do with multiple Echo speakers. Here is a look at what else you and your smart home can now do.

Read More:

Stereo Pairing

First up, we're going to assume you have two Echo speakers in the same room and want to increase the breadth of their soundstage by turning them into a stereo pair. This means one Echo handles the left channel of a music track, and the other looks after the right channel, creating a broader, more dynamic sound.

Stereo Pairing works with all Echo speakers from the second-generation Echo Plus and third-generation Echo Dot onwards, as well as the latest third-generation regular Echo, and new Echo Studio.

So long as you have a pair of the same Echo speakers (two Echo Dots, or two Echo Studios, for example) you can create a stereo pair. To do this, follow these instructions:

On the next screen you'll be asked to confirm which two Echo speakers you want to pair together. Remember, these need to be the same type of Echo speaker.

Three Echo Dots make a home-wide sound system for $150Amazon

You then need to tell the app which Echo speaker is left and which is right. The app doesn't let you play a sound to identify each speaker (which can be confusing if they both look the same and you've forgotten which is which), but you can easily swap them later if you get it wrong.

Tap Next after you have picked the two speakers, and the setup is complete. Now you will see this newly created stereo pair under your list of Speaker Groups in the Alexa app. When speaking to these Echos, Alexa will only reply out of whichever is closest to you.

Home Theatre and Surround Sound

Expanding on this concept, multiple Echo speakers can also be used to create a surround sound system for your Amazon Fire TV device.

We've explained this in greater detail here, but in short the feature lets you pair up to four Echo speakers and the Echo Sub to create a home cinema system.

You can add two or four Echos (as long as they are all the same) and the Sub is optional. Using the new Echo Studio also opens the door to Dolby Atmos, with the speakers firing sound upwards and bouncing it off the ceiling to add depth to whatever you are watching.

Music in multiple rooms

Setting up a multi-room speaker group with AlexaGearBrain

The Alexa app makes it easy to name each Echo then assign them to a room or floor in your home. This means you can ask the assistant to play music "in the kitchen" or "upstairs", no matter which Echo you ask.

You can also ask Alexa to play music everywhere, so the same track will play, perfectly synchronized, through all the Echo speakers on your network. This is great way to create a Sonos-like sound system on a budget (since a set of two Echo Dots currently costs $60.)

What's more, you can ask Alexa to play from different sound sources on each Echo. That way, one person can play a radio station from TuneIn in the kitchen, while someone else has their favorite Spotify playlist on in the living room.

There are a couple of down sides here though, as third-party Alexa speakers like those from Sonos cannot be added to an Alexa multi-room setup, as the feature is exclusive to Echo products.

By default, you cannot play different music from the same source in different rooms. But, this is possible if you pay $14.99 a month for an Amazon Music Unlimited family plan. This gives you access to 50 million songs and the ability to create up to six user accounts.

Once set up, you can play different tracks through up to six different Echo speakers in the same home.

To set up a multi-room music group of Echo speakers, follow these instructions:

Here, you will be asked to name the new group (such as Living Room, Downstairs or Everywhere). Then tap on the speakers you want to include in the group, and tap Save.

Now, you can say to any Echo speaker in the home: "Alexa, play [artist name] everywhere" and every Echo will be brought to life.

Create a home intercom system

Echo speakers show a green light when being dropped in onGearBrain

With two or more Echo speakers in your home, you can create an intercom system. Once set up, you can say to one Echo: "Alexa, drop in on the living room," and a two-way audio connection is established between the two Echos, meaning people in the two rooms can talk to each other.

We have previously written about how to get started with Alexa Drop In here.

This feature may only have limited uses for some, but it's a handy way to drop in on the kitchen to see if dinner is ready, or for getting the kids to come downstairs.

When an Echo is being dropped in on, its light pulses green to let you know someone elsewhere in the house is listening.

Broadcast messages across the home

Similar to drop-in, this feature lets you broadcast recorded messages to every Echo in the home, but without listening in through their microphones. All you have to do is say: "Alexa, broadcast [message]," and Alexa will play your message to every other Echo. Instead of "broadcast," you can also say "announce".

Read more from the original source:
The benefits of installing multiple Amazon Echos in your smart home - Gearbrain

To close observers of Queer Eye, design expert Bobby Berk seems to have the most taxing job of the Fab Five. While Jonathan Van Ness cuts hair and preaches the gospel of beard oil, and Tan France fixes a withering eye on the makeover subjects closet, Berk spends most of an episode offscreen. By the end of each installmentjust days after the Fab Five first meet their subjectBerk has torn up floorboards, gutted the kitchen, and repainted the entire house.

Berk, who has run his own design consultancy and retail business for years, says the speed and scope of Queer Eye makeovers would be impossible if it werent for his background in home building. His latest venture, a furniture collection with A.R.T. Furniture, is a natural evolution of his design career.

We caught up with Berk recently to talk about the line and how he manages such ambitious projects on Queer Eye.

Fast Company: You recently released a collection with A.R.T. Furniture and its new CEO, Jeff Young. What inspired the line?

Bobby Berk: The inspiration for the furniture line comes from fans that watch Queer Eye and constantly message me, I wish that you could pick out all the furniture for my house. I wish you could help me design my house. I had manufactured some of my own furniture for my stores, but I had never really done a mass line that was attainable for almost anyone.

I think of your home like your phone charger. You need to get a full charge or youre not going to make it through the rest of the day or the next day. Putting things in your home that make you happy, relaxed, and grounded can really have a huge impact on your mental health.

So I really wanted to make a line that translated that and made it affordable. I thought it would be kind of an asshole thing to get on Queer Eye every day and preach that changing your home can change your lifebut only if youve got a lot of money. I wanted it to be good quality furniture that youre going to keep for years.

FC: You said this feels like a natural evolution. Can you talk about what brought you to this point in your career, and how your background prepared you for an opportunity like Queer Eye?

BB: I dont even know if Id really call it a career. Every single job that Ive ever had, every part of my career, has always been in entertainment, even though it technically wasnt what you would traditionally think of as entertainment.I was a server at Applebees. As a server, I was an entertainer. I was giving those customers not just food, but an experience. The [better] experience youd give them, the more tips youd get.

Working at the Gap, it was about an experience. I would give [women who came in] the best gay best friend helping you pick out your clothes experience you could have. People enjoyed it, and they came back for it. Even selling long-distance service as a telemarketerthat was also entertainment. I would use different accents and be different characters.

People always say theres no way we get those houses done from Tuesday to Friday. And the thing is, we do.

So it was all about the experience that I was giving people, no matter what industry I was in. And I think that has helped me with Queer Eye. Maya Angelou said that people will never remember what you said to them. They will only remember how you made them feel. People may not remember exactly what I said on the show or exactly what Jonathan said, but theyll remember how it made them feel inside.

FC: I want to talk about how youre so productive on Queer Eye, because you seem downright superhuman. How do you manage to pack an entire renovation into just a few days?

BB: My planning for an episode usually starts a few weeks before. There have been episodes where there was no planning available. But usually our heroes are cast a few weeks before we meet them, so my team is usually able to go to the heros home beforehand. I dont meet them, but I at least check out their space and get basic measurements. We often give them new flooring or window shades or kitchen cabinets, and those are the type of things where there is no way to do it the week of. So if we are planning on doing a big renovation, those things do have to be planned out. So we will usually go out there a week or two before, and well figure out a game plan on the major things.

Before we start filming, my team has found a [makeshift] warehouse, and we basically turn it into a big store of our own. We pre-order tons of art and accessories and candles and pillows and bedding, and we just line this warehouse full of stuff that I could possibly use. That way, were not running around the city the day were filming and going to all these different stores. Often I will figure out the main pieces of furniture that I need because for the most part, stores dont stock things anymore. You cant just go into a West Elm and be like, I want this sofa.

FC: But you do usually incorporate personal elements into your decor. How do you weave that into your process, especially if youre stocking your warehouse ahead of time?

BB: The type of art that we order is so random and so crazy. Sometimes well pick things and Im like, There is no way were ever going to use this. This is awful. But then Ill get to a heros home and Im like, That awful piece of art that I would never have imagined I would ever use in a home is so perfect for them. Itll be something weird and quirky that Ive learned about their personality, and when they see that [art], theyre like, Oh my god, you get me!

For example, AJ in season one who came out to his stepmother. I [found out] that the very first trip he and his boyfriend took together was to Miami. So in his bedroom, I put up a piece of wall art that had MIA, the Miami airport code. He saw that and was like, This reminds me of the first trip we took. And I said, Thats exactly why its on the wall. Those are the type of things that I listen for.

When you come in and you completely change somebodys home, [you] dont want them to feel like theyre not walking into their own home. I want there to be so many personal things that theyre like, This is my home, and this is exactly the way I wouldve done it if I knew how to put things together like this. We accomplish a lot of that with art and family photos. If they dont have photos, I have great people on my team. Their job is to start knocking on doors and calling their families. Sometimes, that is happening even before, as our producers are interviewing their family members and finding out their story.

FC: So theres a lot of preparation that goes into each episode behind the scenes. How long are you allotted for what we actually see on Queer Eye?

BB: For the most part, our [filming] schedule usually is Tuesday to Friday. So on Tuesday we meet them; we call that ambush day. And thats when I truly start digging through their personal stuff and finding stuff out about them. On my first visits to their home, I dont dig through their stuff. Its really just sizing the actual space up. When you see me find something interesting in their home the day we meet them, I want that to be real. I dont want to be like, Ooh, so producers, I found this picture thats probably gonna make them cry. Im going to have it here, so be sure to have a camera on me when I find it. There are shows out there like that, but weve always been very, very aware of not doing that. I really do want to be shocked or disgusted for real that day when you are seeing it for the first time on TV.

People always say theres no way we get those houses done from Tuesday to Friday. And the thing is, we do. All the clean-out that you see, which often can take the entire first day or more, and all of the construction, painting, flooring, furniture installation, drapes, artthat really is done between Tuesday and Friday. The preparation is in order for us to have everything we need to get that accomplished.

FC: And while youre doing that preparation, youre also working on other episodes, right?

BB: Yes, very much so. Its not like the week before youre filming, you have nothing to do and youre just prepping for that episodewhile were installing, were also still prepping for the next week and the week after. Were making sure that the things that we ordered are arriving, and thats a whole job in its own, handling the tracking and the logistics and the project managing. At any given time, were working on [up to] four heroes. Were installing one, and were prepping for two to three more.

If I didnt have that experience, I think Queer Eye would have definitely broken me.

[In] season one and two, I just had one team, which made it really, really hard. Season three and four, we learned that I would have Tommywho was like my main man and had been with me through all of season one and twoand another team leader. So one week I would be installing a heros home with Tommy, and then at the same time, I would be preparing for the next weeks episode, [which the other team leader] Nate would be project managing, and then it would rotate. The next week, Tommy would be preparing for the next episode as I was installing with Nate and his team. That made life way easier, so weve become a very well-oiled machine now. Tommy also did this on Extreme Home Makeover, so he was really great about teaching me the ins and outs of how to prepare for this show.

FC: How structured are your filming days? Do you have a daily routine?

BB: Theres just no way. You have to roll with the punches because with installation, you never know what youre going to run into. In season two, when we were doing some construction for [Mayor Ted Terry], we ran into a huge termite infestation, which he didnt know about. So that threw the schedule off. Also, a retailer was supposed to be sending a huge shipment of furniture that we ordered, which never showed up. So that week, we actually did have to send out multiple cars to stores all over the city and try to pull as much furniture off their floors as we possibly could to furnish the house.

In season three with Joey Greene: On Wednesday night there was a big storm, and it knocked a tree down, and it took the power out for the whole campground. We were in there with flashlights trying to paint and get stuff done in the dark.

Most of the time as a designer, youre doing a home over a period of a year, and youre doing the install over a few weeks or few months. But my design firm actually focuses on working with home builders, so we will design five homes in a community at once. Granted, well design those sometimes over a year from start to finish, from when we first look at the architectural plans to breaking ground. But when we install them, well sometimes install five homesand when I say install the whole home, I mean everythingin less than a week. Well pull in with a few tractor trailer loads for these homes, and well knock them out in a few days. And when we install these model homes, we usually start installing on a Monday, and 9 times out of 10, their grand opening will be that Saturday. So its not like we can [say] we need a few extra days. If I didnt have that experience, I think Queer Eye would have definitely broken me.

FC: Can you share any details on your budget per episode? Because the challenge for you isnt just maximizing your productivity, but doing so within a budget.

BB: Our budget is way lower than you think it is. We really have to stretch the dollar. I cant share much, because I have before, and I got yelled at. But the budget is low.I would say 80% of my budget is eaten up on construction. This is just a random number, but lets say that normally installing a floor over a couple of weeks costs a dollar. I need that floor installed in a couple of hours, if not overnight. So what they would normally charge a dollar for, theyll charge me $50 for because they need to send in 10 people from the construction team to get that done. So my construction costs are hugely inflated just because of the manpower they have to throw at it to get it done in the time that we need.

In the very beginning, we werent even allowed to say what the show was, so wed have to call up retailers and say, Were doing a makeover show and wondering if you want to partner with us.

FC: Im surprised to hear that was the case, even with Netflix behind you.

BB: I understand because having my own retail stores before, I would have shows contact us all the time wanting things for free. And [most of the time], it wasnt beneficial. The Housewives used to contact us all the time and said, You should do our house. Its going to give you so much exposure. And no, thats not the kind of exposure I want.

All of us really were cast and hired because were experts in our field. Especially in the beginning, it really took a village. Not that our producers arent amazingbut it really took us working with our producers to leverage the relationships we had in our real careers to make the show happen. For season three and four, even though my furniture collection with A.R.T. wasnt out yet, they provided 50% or more of the furniture we needed.

FC: Now that youve done this for a few years, is there anything youve found especially surprising about being a part of Queer Eye?

BB: I would say the biggest surprise was that it was successful. None of us thought it would be. We were like, Oh, this is cute. Well film for five months and then go back to our normal lives. That didnt happen. Were the luckiest little boys in the world, we always say. I think the success is due to the social impact that weve been able to have on peoplejust the philosophy of loving yourself and taking care of yourself and accepting yourself.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

See the rest here:
Queer Eye's Bobby Berk on productivity and home renovations - Fast Company