Dec 20
A’s Mike Fiers processing the reality of his second no-hitter
OAKLAND — Mike Fiers got home early Wednesday morning after making history with the second no-hitter of his career and the 13th in the history of the Athletics franchise.If anyone loves baseball more than Fiers, it might be his father, Bruce. Still, son resisted the urge to call dad at home in South Florida — and it wasn’t because of the time of day. Bruce Fiers has a routine.“He wants to wake up in the morning and watch my start before he goes to work,” Fiers said Wednesday before the …
{loadposition tc}Click on a thumbnail for a low-resolution image, or right-click on the link below it to download a high-resolution copy of the image.» Download Infrastructure contact sheet (1.1MB) » Download full image library contact sheet (10.5MB) Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Industries and businesses surrounding Cape Town International Airport. Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: Cape Town International Airport undergoing renovations and enlargement to accommodate the increased number of visitors expected for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res image Cape Town, Western Cape province: The road into Cape Town International Airport. Photo: Rodger BoschMediaClubSouthAfrica.com » Download high-res imageINFRASTRUCTURE 6: {loadposition infrastructure}Having trouble downloading high-resolution images? Queries about the image library? Email Janine Erasmus at janinee@mediaclubsouthafrica.com.
Southwest has big plans for lesisure routes Other airlines rely on social media these days to handle complaints, but few employ e-connections as seemingly successfully as Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in the United States.The airline sports a Social Care Team, whose job it is to take care of complaints, acknowledge compliments and, when the occasion calls for it, crack a joke to lighten the mood.We don’t know if all this contributes to Southwest’s second place ranking as the least-complained about carrier in the country during 2014 according to United States Department of Transportation statistics, but it can’t hurt. Consider, according to DOT statistics the airline boarded 135,769,098 passengers last year, second most among all U.S. carriers. It received 714 complaints, or 0.53 per 100,000 boardings. By contrast, United Airlines boarded 90,520,319 folks according to DOT and got 2,452 gripes. That translates into 2.71 complaints for every 100,000 passengers. The average number of complaints for the dozen U.S. airlines DOT ranks was 2.71 per 100,000 passengers.Tweet, tweetNothing galls a flyer more than being ignored. Southwest’s Social Care Team tries to make sure that doesn’t happen often. It strips away layers of bureaucracy and gets down to business fast. “The Team can handle virtually any inquiry without having to escalate [the issue to higher-ups] or direct the Customer to another channel or department for service,” says Southwest spokeswoman Melissa Ford in written response to AirlineRatings.com.Seven days a week the Social Care Team toils and Tweets. A couple of examples are illustrative:– When summer weather raised passenger hackles and played havoc on airline schedules along the East Coast of the U.S. the rock band The Fray found themselves delayed aboard Flight 176. The band Tweeted “@SouthwestAir owes us a drink.” A member of the Social Care Team got back to them, saying, “So sorry to delay you guys. Looks like Mother Nature is going to be nice and you should be your way soon.”The Social Care representative worked with Southwest’s Proactive Customer Service Team to make up for the band’s delay by issuing, via e-mail, what the airline calls a ‘LUV Voucher,’ good for passage on a future Southwest flight.– After arriving late in St. Louis because of a delay Hadas Gold Tweeted Southwest, “Dear @SouthwestAir please hold the plane from St. Louis to Phoenix so we can make it home.” She offered “to bake the whole plane pies if you hold flight 351 for 10 extra min.”The Social Care Team worked with the airline’s Network Operations Control center. NOC responded, getting right back to the flight: “PLZ MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT: THE STL-PHX FLIGHT WILL HOLD – AND SAY YOU EXPECT THE PIES TO BE KEY LIME.”The message mirrors the airline’s attitude: it takes its job seriously, but not necessarily itself. No word on how many pies produced. In short, Southwest spends a lot of time and effort attempting to nip problems in the bud, before they have a chance to blossom into a full-blown complaints.Traditional channelsWhile Southwest leans heavily on social media to mediate passenger problems, there are other channels as well. During business hours you can contact the carrier’s Customer Relations Department at 214-932-0333. E-mail contact can be had at www.southwest.com/contact _us. Finally there’s traditional snail mail. The address is Southwest Airlines, PO Box 36647-1CR, Dallas, Texas 75235.
Insulating his planned wood foundation is an entirely different issue.Those are the topics for this Q&A Spotlight. Nik Fiorito is grappling with the same issues every owner/builder eventually confronts: What’s the best way of insulating a new house? Only in Fiorito’s case, it gets a little more complicated.First, he’s building in Climate Zone 7, forty minutes north of the U.S.-Canadian border, on a hilltop where the temperature averaged 3 below zero F (-19.6 degrees C.) this past February. He’s also considering a fully off-grid photovoltaic (PV) system plus a ground-source heat pump for both heat and domestic hot water.Throw those variables in the mix and Fiorito’s situation is a little more complicated than building, say, a nice little ranch in suburban Cleveland.“The home has large, south-facing windows with a walkout basement and as Thunder Bay is quite sunny (no city east of us in Canada gets more sunshine), I think we’ll have a nice solar gain into the home during the winter,” he writes in a Q&A post at Green Building Advisor.What, he asks, should the wall assemblies look like? He’s leaning toward using Roxul mineral wool insulation in the 2×6 stud cavities, with Roxul Comfortboard mineral wool panels on the outside to lessen thermal bridging and a polyethylene vapor barrier to keep water vapor out of the walls.A second option would include the use of 1 1/2-inch tongue-and-groove rigid foam on the interior over mineral wool batts. “This would allow me to avoid a poly vapor barrier and flash the windows against the exterior sheathing (OSB, most likely),” he writes. “I know this method (interior rigid foam) is less favored here, but I’m thinking it might work.” RELATED ARTICLES Vapor Retarders and Vapor BarriersForget Vapor Diffusion — Stop the Air Leaks!Insulating Roofs, Walls, and FloorsInsulation ChoicesVapor Retarders and Vapor BarriersHeat Pumps: The BasicsAn Introduction to Photovoltaic Systems Our expert’s opinionPeter Yost, GBA’s technical director, added these thoughts:If I were designing and building a home off-the-grid in “chilly Thunder Bay,” I would beef up the enclosure performance, minimize and simplify my heating system, and plan on keeping cool mostly with ceiling fans and natural ventilation.We are about 250 miles south of you and cool passively on all but a handful of summer days (Brattleboro, Vermont, has about 390 cooling degree days, base temperature 65°F). Not a scenario into which a ground -ource heat pump fits very well.Thunder Bay also seems like a good fit for use of a smart vapor retarder (SVR) system, which can be — and typically is — detailed as an air barrier, and more easily and effectively than polyethylene plastic.In terms of continuous exterior rigid insulation on either the above-grade or the below-grade wood walls: warm the wood by putting the insulation on the exterior. The wood-frame walls will be more hygrothermally stable over time, and this approach will reduce thermal bridging. Sure, this will complicate both the planar location and the flashing of your window installations, but GBA is chock-full of all sorts of resources on just these issues.Finally, if you are pursuing net-zero energy for an off-the-grid home in Climate Zone 7, it’s worth more than a look at Thorsten Chlupp’s work on off-the-grid high performance homes in Alaska.See also:Using Sand to Store Solar Energy A Passive House Design for Alaska’s Frigid ClimateNatural Resources Canada Net Zero Energy HousingNet-Zero Energy Coalition. We’re going to lob this one over to them. Stay tuned. Maybe a Honda cogeneration system is the answerAJ Builder has another suggestion — a cogeneration system built by Honda that uses propane or natural gas to create electricity, domestic hot water and heat. “No noise,” AJ Builder writes, and a long life. “Perfect.”Holladay thinks the U.S. distributor went out of business, but Dana Dorsett writes that FreeWatt actually sold the business to another company, which eventually dropped the unit because of slow sales. “Honda still makes ~1 kW natural gas and propane generators, which saw a huge uptick in domestic sales in Japan in the wake of the Fukushima disaster,” Dorsett says. More than 100,000 of the devices are running in Japan, and one version can be used in off-grid systems.Although Dorsett’s business partner has one “humming away quietly in his house,” a cogeneration system may not be the best fit in Fiorito’s area. “In the much more temperate climate of Japan they are usually mounted on the exterior of the house, which would have serious freeze-up potential in that configuration,” Dorsett writes. “(It’s probably able to handle coastal British Columbia type climates, though.) But it’s probably adaptable for mounting inside of conditioned space.”
Insulating wood foundation wallsFiorito’s plans also call for a wood foundation, and that raises its own insulation issues.He thinks he’ll insulate the stud cavities of the foundation with mineral wool, and then add between 2 and 4 inches of rigid foam (expanded polystyrene). That would be capped with drywall and paint.“I don’t think it ever makes sense to install an air-permeable insulation like mineral wool on the interior side of the cold plywood of a wood foundation,” Holladay says. “If you get condensation against the cold plywood, water can trickle down the plywood and form puddles at your bottom plate.“The only interior insulation I can recommend for this type of foundation is closed-cell spray polyurethane foam. Of course, you can always insulate the plywood on the exterior (with mineral wool, EPS, XPS, or closed-cell spray foam).”Yes, insulate the foundation from the exterior, says Dorsett, it will keep the wood warmer and drier. First, the question of the heat pumpIf Fiorito is really going off-grid, he should reexamine his choice of a ground-source heat pump, writes GBA senior editor Martin Holladay, because it won’t work.“You can’t operate a ground-source heat pump with an off-grid electrical system,” he says. “When you get a week of cloudy weather in December, there is no way that your battery system can power your heating system.”He offers three suggestions: a wood stove, a propane space heater vented through the wall, or an oil-fueled parlor stove gravity-fed from an outdoor, elevated fuel tank.Nonsense, says Richard McGrath: a heat pump, possibly with a propane or oil backup, will work just fine.“Solar thermal storage has moved into the 21st century,” McGrath writes. “You could easily enjoy [coefficient of performance] over 5.5 during heat pump operation. Possibly a diesel generator as electric backup just in case the sun doesn’t shine.”No, Holladay replies, “it’s nuts to run a heat pump with a fossil-fuel powered generator.”“Just as nuts, McGrath says, “to build a large enough battery for PV during those times that that bright thing is not up in the sky. Hydronic solutions are readily available to store plenty of water at a temp that would heat a well built home for quite a long time with properly sized storage and controls. It is a shame that you are unaware of these things or just discount them.”Holladay, who has lived off-grid for 40 years and has been using a generator for 22 years, would advise Fiorito not to build off-grid at all, but to connect his PV system with the grid.“I stand by my advice that for an off-grid house, the only heating systems worth considering are heating systems that don’t require electricity,” he says. “When off-grid homeowners ignore this advice, they usually abandon the expensive heating equipment that requires electricity within one or two years.” Is poly in the walls a good idea?Using polyethylene sheeting in the walls as a vapor barrier was routine not too many years ago, but it’s use has fallen out of favor as builders recognize it can trap moisture in wall cavities. Increasingly, designers emphasize the importance of air barriers to reduce the flow of warm, moist air into cold wall cavities.“Shouldn’t we just be doing air barriers?” asks Lucy Foxworth. “There are a number of air barrier materials that allow drying to either side that would work better, I think. Some examples are MemBrain from CertainTeed, Intello from Pro Clima (distributed by 475 Building Supply in the U.S.) and Siga Majpell from Small Planet workshop.”Foxworth adds, however, that Fiorito’s plans for above-grade wall insulation seem a little skimpy. With insulated 2×6 walls and 2 inches of mineral wool panels on the exterior, she suggests, would add to up R-28 to R-30, which “won’t get you very far in terms of insulation in a zone 7 climate.”If the walls can dry in both directions with a more vapor-permeable air barrier and mineral wool insulation, she adds, the threat of condensation inside wall cavities may not be as much of an issue as Fiorito thinks.“Poly is the rule around here, not the exception it seems.” Fiorito adds. “That being said, I am meeting with the building inspector on Monday and could see how high his eyebrows rise at the mention of omitting it.”
Although many software platforms have the capability to edit and color RAW media natively, there are situations when Adobe Photoshop might be the best tool for the job.On several occasions, I’ve needed to batch process an image sequence (usually Cinema DNG RAW material from a Blackmagic Cinema Camera) using Adobe Photoshop. While I’m proficient in Resolve, After Effects, and other applications that are more than capable of handling image sequences natively, there have been times when Photoshop was ultimately the best solution.This was often the case when working on a computer system that wasn’t my own and didn’t have Resolve or any other finishing software installed. It’s not uncommon when working in the post-production world to get asked at the last minute to do a “one light color pass” when delivering your digital dailies to the editor. In a scenario where you simply don’t have access to any other software, here’s how you can use Photoshop as a band-aid solution.Step 1: Open the Source MediaMuch like opening up a single image, simply select Open from the file menu and locate your image sequence folder. Select all of the images and click Open once again. This will load all of your individual images from the sequence into the Camera Raw window.Step 2: Color CorrectWith the files now imported into the Camera Raw window, hit CMD + A to select all. This way, any changes that you make to the color will be globally applied to each individual shot. Use the usual color tools on the right side panel to make any and all creative adjustments.The familiarity and convenience of using the Photoshop tools makes for a simple and easy grading experience. You won’t be able to add power windows or create secondary grades, however that shouldn’t be an issue, as you’d typically leave more complex adjustments for the finishing stages of post.Step 3: ExportOnce your color work is done, click Save Images on the bottom left of the window. Not only will this allow you to re-export all of your shots (with the color changes), but it’ll also allow you to convert the files.If for any reason you need to work with a TIFF sequence or JPEG sequence, you’ll have the ability to convert the format at this step. This may be helpful for FCPX users who are able to use workarounds to edit JPG image sequences, but won’t be able to edit DNG sequences in the application.Have any tips for color grading RAW footage in Photoshop? Share in the comments below.Need stock photos for your next creative projects, check out the Shutterstock stock photo collection.
About the authorCarlos VolcanoShare the loveHave your say AC Milan goalkeeper Donnarumma: We’re a beautiful groupby Carlos Volcanoa month agoSend to a friendShare the loveAC Milan goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma says they’re ready for the derby against Inter Milan.Milan have won two of their first three games under coach Marco Giampaolo.Donnarumma said: “We’re a beautiful group. With a new Coach it’s normal to have some difficulty at the beginning, but we’re working well.“We’ve picked up two wins from three, not playing very well, but winning helps us win more and slowly we’re getting to grips with our game.“A derby goes over everything else, it’s a game that prepares itself and gives out a lot of energy and emotion. Playing the derby is a unique satisfaction.“Samir [Handanovic] is a very good lad and a great goalkeeper, I like how he attacks the ball, plus we know all his other qualities.“With D’Ambrosio I have a beautiful relationship, he’s my compatriot and he also lives near me. I’ll surely cross him.” 
Ferdinand hails ‘perfect performance’ from Chelsea defender Tomoriby Paul Vegas23 days agoSend to a friendShare the loveManchester United legend Rio Ferdinand is convinced by the potential of Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori.Ferdinand knows a thing or two about good defending – and he saw that in abundance from Tomori in Chelsea’s Champions League win over Lille.He enthused: “Huge talent. I think tactically Frank has got an A+ today because the pace on the counter attack from the Lille front men was there for all to see.”That was the best defender on the pitch actually setting up the first goal.”Everything he did today defensively I thought he was perfect.”His tenacity, his anticipation, his willingness to step out and make quick decisions to intercept.”He notices the danger, he’s running past people to get back to make an effort for his team. That’s what you want to see from young players.”The best bit is one-v-one. He’s saying, ‘Go on, you try and run past me.’ That’s what you want from your centre-half.” About the authorPaul VegasShare the loveHave your say
LEXINGTON, KY – NOVEMBER 14: A general view of the Kentucky Wildcats game against the Grand Canyon Antelopes at Rupp Arena on November 14, 2014 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)We’re just one month away from March Madness, so naturally, the apparel manufacturers are starting to debut new uniforms for the top college basketball teams. Nike unveiled eight new uniforms Friday – six for men’s teams, two for women’s teams.The men’s squads for Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Florida, Arizona and Oregon got new Nike Hyper Elite’s for the stretch run. UConn and Baylor’s women’s teams were were also part of the release. A number of teams, including the Blue Devils, will debut them this weekend. From Nike:Each school’s home uniform will feature a white base with school-specific color lettering and a 26-degree speed graphic of an iconic symbol of each school across the side of the game short. The 26-degree angle of each school’s graphic was inspired by the chevron on the classic Nike Windrunner track jacket that debuted in 1978. Each graphic represents a distinctive basketball point of view, based on the roughly 1,000 directional changes, or “cuts” that a player might make in the course of a game.Here are some shots of the new digs.New Nike uniforms for Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Florida, Arizona, Oregon, UConn, & Baylor pic.twitter.com/q6HykfdiCr— Heidi Burgett (@heidiburgett) February 20, 2015Road to March is paved with @nikebasketball Hyper Elite Unis for 8 teams. Debuting this wkd. http://t.co/7ryu7iCz2S pic.twitter.com/cgXspbt3yA— Brian Strong (@briangstrong) February 20, 2015The new Disruption uniform set from Nike! Will wear when Syracuse visits Cameron. pic.twitter.com/sV0EvMGWod— Duke Basketball (@dukeblueplanet) February 20, 2015Check out the brand new @Nike Hyper Elite uniforms we will wear vs. Virginia on Senior Day 3/2! #CuseMode pic.twitter.com/qjz5Fdb6MB— Syracuse Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 20, 2015College basketball fans – what do you think?
New Delhi: Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday held a surprise inspection at Burari Transport Authority here and suggested changes for smoother fitness test for three-wheelers. “Made a surprise visit today to Brurari Transport Authority. Interacted with lots of three-wheeler drivers. Have suggested few changes which will further smoothen the process of fitness for three-wheelers,” he tweeted. Last year in July, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went for a surprise inspection to the Transport Authority in Burari and called it a “den of corruption”. He had directed changes after which the auto drivers find it easy to get certificates and other documents from the authority.
OTTAWA – The emergence of an RCMP questionnaire targeting Muslim asylum seekers in Quebec prompted fresh accusations Thursday that the Liberal government mismanaged this past summer’s massive flow of migrants from the United States.The questionnaire was used at the Quebec border crossing that saw an influx of thousands of asylum seekers from the U.S., many of them of Haitian descent who were concerned about the Trump administration’s decision to cancel a program that allowed them to stay in the country.Among other things, the questionnaire asked opinions about religious practice, head coverings associated with Muslim women and terrorist groups with mainly Muslim members.Toronto immigration lawyer Clifford McCarten said he obtained a copy of the document from a client seeking refugee status, who had been given the three-page, 41-question document by mistake.“He was shocked by the questions,” said McCarten, who provided a copy to The Canadian Press.The man was originally from a Muslim country, he added.“Canada is a very liberal country that believes in freedom of religious practice and equality between men and women. What is your opinion of this subject? How would you feel if your boss was a woman? How do you feel about women who do not wear the hijab?” says the questionnaire, which also asked the same question about other head and body coverings, including the dupatta, niqab, chador and burka.A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the government found out on Tuesday about the existence of the questionnaire from a “stakeholder” who takes an interest in the work of the department.Public Safety spokesman Scott Bardsley said the department was immediately concerned and the document is no longer being used by the RCMP.“Some of the questions were inappropriate and inconsistent with government policy,” Bardsley said in an emailed statement.Bardsley said the document was only used “locally,” but would not say whether there would be repercussions for any of the Mounties involved in its creation.He referred those questions to the RCMP, but a spokeswoman said Thursday the Mounties would not be granting interviews on the topic. In a written statement, the RCMP said the “interview guide” was used by its Quebec C Division and “has been revised to better evaluate individuals coming into the country whose origin is unknown, while being respectful of their situations.”McCarten said the existence of the document raises questions about the federal government’s competence in managing the sudden surge of arrivals from the U.S.“If, in fact, this was a local detachment making this decision — which I find a bit hard to believe — then it’s deeply concerning that one of the most, if not the most problematic crisis spot in Canadian immigration and refugee policy right now . . . doesn’t have a federal strategy for how screening is happening.”Matthew Dube, the NDP public safety critic, said in an interview the questionnaire raises “red flags” about whether the RCMP is engaged in widespread racial profiling, and he called on Goodale to launch a broad inquiry to find out.He said he has serious concerns that Goodale didn’t know about the questionnaire until Tuesday.“I have no idea how such a racist, profiling questionnaire could ever be part of an operational procedure.”Jenny Kwan, the NDP immigration critic, said the government needs to provide more answers on how the questionnaire was used.“The number of times someone prays should have no bearing on their refugee status. That is not who we are,” she said.Other questions asked the applicants to specify their religion and “how often” they practice their religion.McCarten said the RCMP needs to conduct security screening, but the questions being asked don’t cover all potential threats to Canada.“It appears to instruct RCMP officers to be asking questions to the exclusion of other types of concerns, specifically the right-wing, white supremacist violence happening in the U.S. and that we have a history of in Canada,” he said.“It asks questions that are discriminatory, that reflect a kind of institutional bias and an institutional ignorance of the RCMP of the nature of risk.”He said asking a Muslim their opinion of head coverings is “absurd” and akin to “asking a Jewish person what their opinions are about men who don’t wear the yarmulke.”McCarten said the document reflects on the RCMP as a whole, and shows “a kind of Islamophobic bias that is animating how it does its business.”Pierre Paul-Hus, the Conservative public safety critic, said the party supports the RCMP’s efforts to keep Canadians safe, but is “united against unjust discrimination towards anyone because of their faith.”
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