![]() If you're looking for a professional tool for visual effects and motion graphics, Adobe After Effects is a safe investment. Although its learning curve can be challenging for beginners, with the right resources and practice, anyone can master this software and make the most of its powerful features. With an impressive variety of tools and effects, it offers users the ability to create visually stunning cinematic compositions. When only creativity rivals powerĪdobe After Effects for Windows is an essential tool for those looking to take their video projects to the next level. While there are other tools in the market for video editing and visual effects, such as DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects stands out for its specialization in motion graphics and special effects, making it a preferred choice for many professionals in the industry. Adobe has worked on accessibility features, including options for users with visual or hearing difficulties. The program is available for Windows and ensures optimized performance for this platform. It does not have ads or in-app purchases. ![]() User satisfaction is high, especially among professionals in the audiovisual industry who are looking for a powerful and flexible tool.Īdobe After Effects for Windows operates under a monthly or annual subscription model, which includes regular updates and access to the latest features. ![]() The interface design is modern and user-friendly, and although it may seem overwhelming for beginners, Adobe offers numerous tutorials and resources to facilitate learning. This integration ensures superior editing quality and avoids complications when combining elements from different sources. It is capable of handling large sets of data and multiple layers of effects with remarkable fluidity.Īfter Effects seamlessly integrates with other Adobe programs, such as Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and Photoshop, allowing for a smooth workflow between applications. The software is known for its high responsiveness and stability, even when working with high-resolution video compositions.
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![]() If the call signs from the forthcoming sequel are any indication, Top Gun: Maverick will be a worthy follow-up I can’t wait until we’re introduced to the likes of Phoenix, Fanboy, Slayer, Lardo, Cyclone, Bob (!!!!), Payback, Viking, and “Harvard & Yale.” But before we get to the Maverick call signs-and because it would be premature to judge the nicknames before we know how well they mesh with a character’s personality-what better way to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the original Top Gun than by ranking its call signs? Also, it’s The Ringer: We blog and we rank things.įor this ranking, I’ve decided to include any character with a nickname, not just the pilots-that includes essentially everyone with a line of dialogue that isn’t Meg Ryan. Really, the whole courtship between Maverick and Charlie is outrageously dumb-and it doesn’t help that Cruise and McGillis don’t have any semblance of sexual chemistry.Īll the Tiny Moments That Add Up to Make ‘Top Gun’ Perfect The Subversive Sameness of ‘Top Gun’ Tom Cruise Is the Ultimate Try-Hard-Except in ‘Top Gun’ Not everything about the original Top Gun, which came out in 1986, stands the test of time: The script doesn’t strike the greatest balance between clichés and one-liners, and I’m pretty sure Tom Cruise’s Maverick committed some sort of crime by harassing Kelly McGillis’s Charlie and then following her into the women’s bathroom at Kansas City Barbeque. (Also, a reminder that Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” won an Oscar for Best Original Song Top Gun is technically an Oscar-winning motion picture.) I guarantee it will take your breath away. What are we and our fellow cinephiles supposed to do without a shiny new paean to aviator sunglasses, homoerotic beach sports, fighter pilot jargon, Kenny Loggins, and somewhat problematic Navy propaganda? Well, there is one solution: Just rewatch the original Top Gun for the umpteenth time. It’s a real blow for America’s most treasured group of workers: pop culture bloggers. Unfortunately, with experts anticipating that a second wave of the virus will come in the fall, there’s a reasonable chance Top Gun: Maverick won’t see the light of day until 2021 (or beyond). Among the many delays to the 2020 film calendar due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the highly anticipated Top Gun sequel was bumped from a June 2020 release to December. This was supposed to be the summer that we reentered the Danger Zone. Welcome to The Ringer ’s Return to Summer Blockbuster Season, where we’ll feature different summer classics each week. ![]() For Dead Man Walking, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.2020’s summer blockbuster season has been put on hold because of the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the movies from the past that we flocked out of the sun and into air conditioning for. As a director, Robbins has directed the films Bob Roberts (1992), Dead Man Walking (1995) and Cradle Will Rock (1999). His television work includes the comedy series The Brink (2015), drama series Here and Now (2018), and psychological horror series Castle Rock (2019). ![]() For that role, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. In 2003, he co-starred in Clint Eastwood's neo-noir crime drama film Mystic River with Sean Penn. He also appeared in the 2000 comedy film High Fidelity with John Cusack. To prepare for his role, he spent time in solitary confinement. In 1994, he portrayed Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption with Morgan Freeman. He went on to star in the films Erik the Viking with Mickey Rooney (1989), Jacob's Ladder with Elizabeth Peña (1990), Cadillac Man with Robin Williams (also 1990), and The Player with Greta Scacchi (1992). He had minor roles in Fraternity Vacation (1985) and Top Gun (1986) before co-starring in the 1988 romantic comedy sports film Bull Durham with Kevin Costner. His film debut was in the 1984 action film Toy Soldiers. Robbins attending the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012Īmerican actor and filmmaker Tim Robbins started his acting career in 1982 with a few episodes on the medical drama series St. ![]() Seiko has been making watches since its first pocket watch in 1895, and the founders knew then that quality workmanship was important. Both Swiss and Japanese watches are made to the same levels of excellence. When is comes to measuring up a Seiko watch against a Swiss Watch one needs to understand the point at where Swiss watchmaking and Japanese watchmaking part ways. With robots building cars faster than man and machines churning out machines that no hand could make, quality, or a lack of, has always raised an eyebrow, But when it comes to watchmaking, the art of Bonsai and making things smaller and more perfect is perhaps no better demonstrated than with Seiko. While engineers in the Far Eastern Nation have been leaders in producing the latest and greatest of the modern age, there has always been a common misconception about the quality of workmanship which is being proven wrong every day. Since World War Two’s end, Japan has been at the forefront of advanced technology, miniaturisation, and cost reduction. Are Seiko watches as good as Swiss Watches? Buy a Seiko watch from Watchshop Why? Well, because it is Japanese of course. ![]() It is clearly one of the most impressive and interesting watch calibers in existence today, and straight out of Japan.A watch snob would almost certainly not place the Japanese Seiko watch in among his or her collection of Swiss watches. It is distinctive for its smooth gliding seconds hand, and its outstanding accuracy of +1/-1 second per day. Spring Drive is a hybrid electro-mechanical movement that consists of a mechanical gear train and an electronic regulator. Though it is arguably most famous today for its affordable dive watches, one of the brand’s biggest achievements is its Spring Drive movement, which we cover in detail elsewhere. ![]() Because of its amazing watch manufacturing capability, it makes watches that span a wide range of price points, with an emphasis on the entry- to midlevel. For its quartz watches, Seiko even grows its own quartz crystals. Now, Seiko is recognized as one of the few truly vertically integrated manufacturers in watchmaking, producing all the components in its watches, including the cases, dials, crystals, and all movement components including the mainspring and balance spring. This movement features an entirely new escapement, balance, and gear train, and further demonstrates the incredible value packed into Grand Seiko watches. ![]() Most recently, Grand Seiko introduced a new high-beat caliber called the 9SA5 that will power a new generation of watches. Grand Seiko’s most iconic and well-known piece is the SBGA011, affectionately known to enthusiasts as the “Snowflake”, a watch that gets its name from its heavily textured white dial, which is said to have been inspired by snowy fields around the Grand Seiko manufacture in the Suwa region. The dial work is also widely regarded as some of the best at any price point, with wonderfully textured surfaces and indices and hands that are elegant and beautifully finished. This is done by a skilled hand and requires years of experience to execute properly. The cases feature the brand’s signature Zaratsu polish, which is achieved by pressing the case against a rotating tin plate. The modern Grand Seiko is generally recognized for offering tremendous bang for the buck when it comes to craftsmanship. 0% interest for up to 24 months available on select brands. ![]() To ensure that each bullet would be equally compared, I matched the way the soap was mounted on the range for each test.įor every bullet, I shot two soap-bar tests and took the mean result. While of course soap does not mimic animal flesh, it is used by certain bullet makers to test their products and it should give a consistent basis from which to compare each bullet’s performance. The test was to measure the depth of penetration and the bullet expansion. The range test for these was 30 yards and the rifle used was a Ruger M77/22 rimfire.Įach brand of ammunition was sighted in at 30 yards and any differing point of impact noted and compensated for on the soaps, which were securely fixed. I purchased some soap bars measuring 2in x 2in and cut to approximately 6in lengths to test the penetration of each bullet. 22LR rimfire subsonic ammunition from varying manufacturers to ascertain accuracy and stopping power at normal vermin ranges. You also need to think how the bullet will perform when it reaches its target – to get the right results you need good performance of penetration or expansion. Getting good resultsĪ responsible shooter is always keen to achieve a humane shot and for this accuracy is paramount. To do that, you need to invest a bit of time and test out what is available in a methodical manner. This may not be best for you however, for getting the best out of your rimfire and achieving your rifle’s potential. Users often make their ammunition choices based on the cheapest manufacturer or on a friend’s recommendation. 22 often doesn’t have the respect and appeal given to stalking rifles and shotguns which results in a disinterested approach towards the calibre. 22 rimfire is largely considered by shooters who have used it to be an accurate vermin cartridge that’s budget friendly and straightforward to shoot with. I take my squirrel hunting way to serious to let a round like this ruin a good day in the timber.A. At best, it’s some fun, fruit busting fodder for a range session. Maybe, just maybe, it works at 25 yards and under, but that’s not how I hunt squirrels. I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this ammo for my squirrel hunting followers. After this big of a disappointment at such a short range, my testing was complete. I at least expected both groups to stack in a clover leaf fashion, but only one out of the two, five shot groups accomplished that. Well that was an unfortunate failure also. ![]() What’s even worse is I attempted two 25 yard groups, expecting the results to be somewhat better. I can’t tell you how much that aggravates me….! I certainly want another round on the market comparable to my coveted Eley Green Box Subsonic, and even Eley screwed that up with the White Box edition. Best Group out of the ten groups I shotĪnd finally all the groups together, just so you know I’m being honest about my results, and not trying to trash CCI Subsonic. I certainly had my hopes up for this ammo, as it’s quite cost effective ($6.50/100), and has a great hollow point cavity. It’s not gonna be a contender for the eastern gray squirrel out of any of my rifles…. I will say that for larger targets like groundhogs, past 50 yards, you could use this round. However I didn’t let the groups stop there. Sadly, from the results of the 10 shot group, this round doesn’t appear to be a contender for squirrel gettin’ duties…. A 10 shot group at 50 yards to start, warms up the barrel and gives me an idea of how this ammo is going to perform. I started with cleaning the barrel with a Hoppe’s #9 soaked patch with one pass, and then putting a dry patch in behind it to start with a unseasoned bore. Here are the results for the first 10 shots: You’ll see in this list of speeds that the 1099 FPS speed barrier was broken, and the auditory report was such that even with a suppressor I was able to make out the supersonic crack down range. I’m a bit of a freak when it comes to squirrel hunting, and I will attempt a shot longer than 50 yards if I have the clearance, and the stability to make such a shot. Knowing this I always want to start with chronograph data so that I have data to plug into iStrelok for holdovers in the woods. These are only what I look for, and may not match how you evaluate your ammunition selection. Must place five shots inside a penny or.My standards for subsonic hollow-point are: I do all my testing at 50 yards for groups that pass my standards. I picked this CCI Subsonic up at to test out to see if it was a worthy contender for squirrel in the fall season. My current favorite is the Green Box Eley Subsonic, which has sadly been replaced with the less accurate White Box Eley Subsonic. Alas, the search for a accurate, subsonic, hollow-point continues on for us squirrel hunters that want to be quiet, accurate, and lethal in the same combo. This app was designed with a simple and intuitive interface, which makes GIF-making quick and easy. In many ways, it’s a lot like the other apps on this list. You can add filters, special effects, and other fun elements before exporting your GIFs to social media. The most impressive part of Gif Me! Camera is its massive collection of features. You can make GIFs from scratch, edit existing GIFs, convert videos into GIFs, and even convert images into GIFs. ![]() While a few users report buggy experiences, mainly unexpected crashes during the exporting process, this app is well engineered and well designed. Gif Me! Camera is available for Android and iPhone for $1.99. EzgifĮzgif is an animated gif maker that’s a little different to others in the list – it’s a web-based tool with no download required, that you can also use on your mobile browser, making it a good bet for both Android and iPhone.Ĭonsidering it’s a free tool – with no requirement to even sign up for an account – it’s pretty robust. You can create your own GIFs by uploading a series of images from your phone storage, or turn a video file into a GIF. Regardless of which option you choose, once you have your ‘first draft’ of the GIF you can use Ezgif to resize, rotate, cup, optimise, plus adding text and effects.Ī really good all-rounder that requires minimal effort to get up and running. Pixel Animator: GIF Maker puts a unique spin on GIF making by focusing specifically on pixel-based GIFs. This app lets you create pixel art and turn it into a GIF for a unique, retro video game-style feel. With Pixel Animator: GIF Maker, you can make sprites and avatars pixel by pixel, or piece together characters with existing parts from their library. Then turn your design into a moving GIF and export it to social media, or save the file to your phone. The app is easy to use and puts a fun twist on GIFs with this retro art form. It’s available for iPhone and Android for free with the option to buy additional in-app features, filters, and effects. ImgPlay – GIF Maker was designed with fun and practicality in mind. Select from multiple canvas sizes depending on where you’re posting it (use a 1:1 canvas for Instagram, but use a 2:1 canvas for Twitter) to get started, and then select from a huge collection of design elements. Refunds for online orders will be returned to the payment method you used to purchase the item.ImgPlay – GIF Maker has an extensive collection of static stickers, animated stickers, filters and more. The fastest way to ensure you get what you want is to return the item you have, and once the return is accepted, make a separate purchase for the new item. Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items or gift cards. On purchasing these items, you understand that these items are sold as is. Items sold and labeled as used/ damaged/ defective are ineligible for return. ![]() We also do not accept returns for hazardous materials, flammable liquids, or gases such as (aerosol spray paints). We do not accept returns for items such as Trading Card Game & Collectable Card Game product, opened Board Games, Comic Books and Graphic Novels, Pop! Figures, Statues, any Clearance product, and opened Hobby Supplies and Brushes. Please inspect your order upon receipt and contact us immediately if the item is defective, damaged or if you receive the wrong item, so that we can evaluate the issue and make it right.ĭue to the collectable nature of many of the items we sell, certain types of items cannot be returned. ![]() You can always contact us for any return question by emailing us at and issues To start a return, please login to your customer account, and use the "request return" feature from your order page. You’ll also need the receipt or proof of purchase. To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unopened, unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return. ![]() The pie is done when the crust and topping are golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling. If the crust and topping is browning to quickly, tent lightly with a foil. Reduce the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 30 to 35 more minutes. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.Sprinkle the crumb mixture in marble sized pieces over the pie filling. Pour the peach filling into the pie crust and evenly spread out the fruit.Stir to combine the ingredients and until crumbs form the size of marbles. For the crumb topping, combine the flour, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter.Stir to thoroughly combine the fruit with the ingredients. Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract and a pinch of kosher salt. For the filling, place the peaches in a large bowl. ![]() Sprinkle the bottom of the crust with the breadcrumbs. Place the pie crust and in a pie plate.Place a large sheet of foil on the lowest rack to catch any fruit juices that drip over. Place one baking rack in the middle of the oven and another in the lowest position in the oven. Bake the pie ~ The crust and topping is golden brown, and the peach filling bubbling when the pie is baked to perfection.Sprinkle with the topping ~ Top the peaches with the crumbs.Fill the crust ~ Evenly spread the fruit filling in the crust.Make the crumb topping ~ Combine flour, light brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter to form marble sized crumbs for the topping.Pulse again until the buttermilk is evenly distributed and a shaggy, crumbly dough begins to form. Scrape the sides and pour buttermilk over the top. Add 2 sticks of COLD butter, cut into chunks, and pulse until the mixture looks sandy. ![]()
![]() OTF was also a joint effort, but between Adobe and Apple, coming years after TTF. TTF set the standard for what font files are today. Created by both Apple and Microsoft to help standardize font files between the two operating systems. TTF stands for TrueType Font, an older font file extension. So what key differences could they possibly have, and is one better? Depending on who you are, a lot, and yes! TTF (TrueType Font) Almost all modern applications, including Photoshop, can use OTF and TTF font files together and interchangeably. OTF vs TTFīoth OTF and TTF are files containing fonts. Once activated, go back into Photoshop and search for your font by name.Īdobe fonts download automatically and sync across all Adobe programs, as long as you are logged into Creative Cloud and have an Internet connection. Step 3: Search for and Use the Font in Photoshop You can also choose to only activate some of the font’s styles, while leaving others inactive, which will help keep your Fonts dropdown menu shorter and better organized. Step 2: Activate Font and Font StylesĬhoose the font you want to download, and then Toggle on Activate Fonts to activate all of the font’s different typefaces and weights. While logged in to Creative Cloud, open Photoshop and click the More From Adobe Fonts button in the Font dropdown menu. Though keep in mind that the fonts do change, with old ones leaving and new ones being added periodically. There are thousands of fonts available in the collection. Adobe Font, formally known as Adobe Typekit, is a collection of licensed fonts that are included with every Adobe Creative Cloud plan.Īll fonts on Adobe Font can be used for both personal and commercial use. ![]() ![]() Here’s how to add custom fonts to Photoshop using Adobe Font. How to Add Adobe Fonts to Photoshop in Mac & Windows You can refresh the fonts drop-down menu by switching from the Type tool to a different tool, and back again. You can see if your font is installed correctly by opening Photoshop, refreshing the Text tool, and searching the font name in the Font dropdown menu. Step 3: Refresh the Type tool in Photoshop Once installed, you can delete any font files on the desktop. Option 2 – Alternatively, you can double-click the font name to open the Font Book application.Ĭlick install font. If your fonts are not showing up, double-check to make sure they are in the correct folder. To install fonts for only a single user, install them in: /Users//Library/Fonts/įonts must be loose in the destination folder, not zipped or in a subfolder. If you want the font to be available for all computer users, put the fonts in this destination: /Library/Fonts/ Option 1 – Next, either Copy or move all font files into one of the following locations: Step 2: Install font into “Fonts” Folder. Make sure all font files are unzipped and loose. Next, you’ll learn how to add fonts to Photoshop on a Mac.įirst, download and extract the font file onto the Desktop. How to Add Custom Fonts to Photoshop in Mac Step 1: Download and Extract the Font onto Your Desktop The Fonts dropdown menu will refresh, and your font will be active. If the Type tool is not active, simply select it. If the Type tool is active, switch to a different tool and then back to the Type tool. However, if Photoshop is already open, you do not need to restart it. With the fonts installed, open Photoshop and double-check that they were installed correctly by searching for them in the Fonts dropdown menu. Step 4: Refresh the Type Tool and Use Your Font Open the Fonts folder and drag and drop your font files from the desktop into Fonts. Open Control Panel and then Appearance and Personalisation. Option 2 – If the Install for all Users option is not showing in the right-click menu, then you can manually place the fonts inside of the Windows font folder. Once installed, you can delete the font files located on the desktop and the original. Option 1– Now, select all font files and Right-Click > Install for all Users. ZIP file and then Right Click > Extract All. ZIP and then drag and drop the contents onto the desktop.Īlternatively, you can select the. With the font download, extract the font onto your computer’s desktop. If using a font for commercial use, be sure to double-check the licensing, as many free fonts are only available for personal use. There are thousands of custom fonts, some free and some paid. How to Add Fonts to Photoshop in Windows Step 1: Choose a Font Site and Download the Fontĭownload a font from a site such as. ![]() The reduced weight and ultra high-resolution. Dive into the improvements and updates here. Contact SupportReach out to our in-house experts for support. New material graph nodes to control texture animation.Over3500 new fabric materials (thanks to our new partner Twinbru Fabrics). ![]() The open-source EXR option for rendering layer.New Coloro support: Now offering full support for Coloro, a free, scientifically accurate color library.Color accuracy you can rely on: KeyShot2023 features automatic color optimizing, meaning it’ll adjust to standard color profiles used across computers.KeyShot 2023 brings a faster and smoother interface, with load times cut in half, optimization for all mobile devices, and a new AR model for iOS devices.Įnjoy more color options and better accuracy support provides incredible GPU-accelerated performance improvements for your rendering workloads, including: > Real-time RTX ray tracing and NVIDIA OptiX. All you need to do is send them a KeyShotWeb link. KeyShotWeb allows you to share your scenes with people who don’t have KeyShot. You’ll save time when starting future projects, and you can standardize templates used across your organization, making it easier for different teams to create consistent visuals.Ĭollaborate seamlessly across your teams and organization Check out what's new:Ĭreate scene templates to save preset environments, cameras, image style and more. Once we receive this information, the licensing team will provide your license, software links. To request your KeyShot Floating License, please send the following information to : Your company name Your serial code (if you have one) Your computer's HostName Your computer's MAC address. Keyshot 2023 brings a boatload of improvements, helping you work faster and collaborate more easily with your stakeholder. Modified on: Tue, 9 Jun, 2020 at 3:37 PM.LiveLinking keeps your design in sync across applications Send your questions over to our support team by emailing.Luxion says that KeyShot 9 and its RTX support will be available this fall.KeyShot was built to connect seamlessly with whichever 3D application you prefer. Send us an Email Luxion USA (Headquarters): 575 Anton Blvd Suite 650 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Phone:(949) 274-8871 Fax:(949) 266-9523 Email: Luxion Europe: Rymarken 2 DK-8210 Aarhus, Denmark Copyrights All Rights Reserved, Luxion Inc. Unfortunately Luxion Support will be unable to assist in solving this issue. The C27 Serena received a facelift in Japan on 1 August 2019 with redesigned front grille, front and rear bumpers, and omnidirectional driving support. 2 While KeyShot doesn’t require GPU for rendering, certain UI elements in KeyShot require a GPU with support for OpenGL 2.0 and up. Therefore, more CPU cores/threads will produce faster rendering times. We’re eager to see what kind of quality we could get from a modest RTX card vs. Contact Contact Us For inquiries on technology or sales. Connection to the Luxion License server will be denied. 1 KeyShot will utilize all available CPU cores. But for GPU, NVIDIA will dominate since AMD’s ray tracing support is currently nonexistent. Curve Fade Animation Node and Ray Mask Utility Node. Where does this leave AMD? Well, on the CPU side, we’ve seen KeyShot take extremely good use of Threadripper, so the company is sitting pretty there. Here's a quick summary of all the new features and improvements in KeyShot 2023: Color Profile Detection. To download and get more information about each plugin, click one of the images below. These are ponders that will be tackled in our future benchmarking. If you have any questions please feel free to contact support. But, because KeyShot has focused on CPUs for so long, it could be that many of its customers will continue to see better performance with their big CPU for now. We haven’t been able to test KeyShot 9 out yet, but it feels to us that if the GPU does the same job as the CPU, then it’s going to end up doing it a lot quicker in the end. Denoising will be made available through an Image Style, which means it can use the Tensors for inference while the RT cores handle the rays. Luxion announces at SIGGRAPH this week, their advanced support for Autodesk Maya and Maxon Cinema 4D. When KeyShot 9 becomes available, users will be able to quickly change between the CPU and GPU with a toggle found at the top. With three high power color lines LUXEON Rebel, LUXEON Z, LUXEON C and the LUXEON 28L Color Line, Lumileds offers the most comprehensive family of mid and high power color LEDs with the industry’s best quality of light. But Luxion didn’t just go that far it jumped right into the deep-end with RTX support. We’ve seen it with many others, including Arnold, which released its first GPU-powered plugin a few months ago. Henrik and Claus Wann Jensen, co-founders of Luxion, said: After nearly 20 years of an owner driven journey, we are excited about partnering with GRO Capital to double-down on product innovation and accelerating global growth. It’s one thing to adopt GPU rendering after having focused around the CPU for an eternity. ![]() How Ormat’s Casa Diablo binary geothermal plant works. Mammoth sits on the western side of the caldera, and geothermal fluids generally flow east toward the Casa Diablo facility and beyond. Geologically, the ground is full of fractured volcanic rock, which creates shallow groundwater aquifers and deeper geothermal reservoirs as snow and rain seep into the ground. It sits in the Long Valley Caldera, a 20-mile-long oval depression that formed more than 750,000 years ago in a massive volcanic eruption. The town has a year-round population of 8,000 that swells to 35,000 during ski season. Mammoth has been California’s premier ski destination for nearly half a century. "But the consequences would be very severe." ‘Crown jewel of the … geothermal industry’ The likelihood of such an event is "low," Evans of USGS said. Geothermal fluids typically are saline and can contain high concentrations of minerals such as lithium or boron. Even a small earthquake or volcanic eruption could change its underlying geology, creating cracks in a pressurized system that could - in theory - allow geothermal fluids to rise into groundwater aquifers, or heat it until the water boils off. Putting his strategy aside, Hayes’ concerns aren’t completely unfounded. Shortly thereafter, Hayes, who was then president-elect, and his wife, who apparently posted the photo, resigned from the club. After his pitch to the rotary club, a photo of Hayes surfaced on the group’s Twitter account that made it looked like the club endorsed his proposal. Courts have strongly rejected his claims, siding with regulators who reviewed the relevant scientific data, as well as a robust groundwater monitoring plan they’ve put in place. His critics note that Hayes has secured few victories. "It’s starting to become Patrick crying wolf," added Phil Kiddoo of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, which has regulatory authority over the geothermal facility. "They are just trying to hurt us even if it has absolutely nothing to do with their water. "To me, they are acting just like a bully," said Rahm Orenstein, a vice president of business development at Ormat. And they question whether he is actually seeking a resolution or just likes to fight. They characterize Hayes as tone-deaf and unreasonable. His tactics have led to considerable frustration at Ormat and among regulators who spent nearly a half-decade reviewing the expansion plans. Hayes has penned op-eds in local papers imploring: "Wake up California! We have a potential water quality crisis right here in our own backyard." Ormat Technologies Inc.’s Casa Diablo geothermal power plant near Mammoth Lakes, Calif. He has even tried to persuade the local rotary club to condemn the project. ![]() He shows up unannounced at local board meetings to plead his case. He spreads opposition research on other Ormat facilities plagued by safety problems. The Mammoth Community Water District general manager has spent $1.7 million on lawsuits, PR and consultants. Hayes remains undeterred, aggressively attacking the project - and anyone associated with it. "A large impact on groundwater supply due to this expansion is unlikely, but certainly not impossible," he said. Geological Survey scientist who has studied the area extensively, said the effects of Ormat’s Casa Diablo plant so far "are not the type of impacts that really cause a great deal of alarm." The problem for Hayes, though, is it’s unclear how much validity there is to those claims. "It was discounted, and the outcome of the report was that there was no concern for the groundwater." "We had the smoking gun," said Hayes, 67, referring to the data. Regulators, he says, have ignored those data in their environmental reviews. They are already contaminating the town’s shallower groundwater aquifers, he says, and the problem could get worse when the plant expands production. Hayes, a charismatic former Olympian, says data show the deep geothermal reservoirs used for energy production are not completely contained. "The local soccer moms and baseball dads, they are generally unaware of what’s about to happen here," he said on a recent tour of a park near where new wells would pump up hot geothermal fluid for the plant. ![]() An exotic ‘white parrot’ from what was then considered furthest India was therefore the perfect gift.Ĭockatoos travel well with people, being gregarious and long-lived. He had many diplomatic exchanges with the ‘Sultan of Babylon’, the fourth Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt (the Kurdish al-Malik Muhammad al-Kamil), who knew the emperor enjoyed falconry and was particularly fond of birds. Restoring one of the world's rarest mapsįrederick’s tastes were a little more refined, however, and he preferred rare books or animals whose behaviour he could study. ![]() In 1251, for example, the King of Norway presented a polar bear to Henry III of England (who kept a menagerie of exotic beasts in the Tower of London), which was allowed to swim in the Thames and catch fish. In the thirteenth century it was common for monarchs to exchange animals as gifts and the larger, fiercer or more rare the animal, the higher its prestige. Based on the fact that my colleagues found red paint flecks in the irises of all four images, they also surmised it was probably a female. This means that the cockatoo gifted to Frederick II was taken from the northernmost tip of what is now Australia’s mainland, New Guinea or the islands off New Guinea or Indonesia. They looked closely at details, like the shape of the crest and the colouring, and concluded the cockatoo was likely to have been either a Triton or one of three sub-species of Yellow-crested Cockatoo. While ornithologists have made various identifications of the cockatoo, its significance had never been explored in depth until my Finnish colleagues studied the drawings in situ in the Vatican Library. This meant that while many scholars, including me, were aware the Sultan had given a white parrot to Frederick II, few were aware there were surviving images of this bird. For a high resolution colour image see article published in Parergon 35/1 (June 2018): 35-60. Lat 1071, folio 20v (© Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana). One of the four images of the cockatoo gifted to Frederick II by the ‘Sultan of Babylon’. But although Wood and Fyfe included many illustrations from the original manuscript, they did not include those of the cockatoo. Many scholars have relied on Casey Albert Wood and Florence Marjorie Fyfe’s English translation of De Arte Venandi cum Avibus, published in 1943 (there is a copy in Melbourne University’s Baillieu Library). The four images in the Vatican manuscript have rarely been reproduced in print. I was intrigued to hear that these images were created 250 years before Mantegna’s painting existed, and so began our collaboration to place this work in historical context and share the story of how an Australasian cockatoo reached Europe in the mid thirteenth century. He and colleagues, Jukka Salo - a zoologist, and Simo Örmä - Intendant of the Finnish Institute in Rome, had been working on identifying the images of the cockatoo in Frederick’s manuscript. I had thought Mantegna’s cockatoo was the earliest European image of a cockatoo until I was contacted by Pekka Niemelä, an emeritus professor of biodiversity and environmental science at the University of Turku in Finland, in February 2015. As this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo or Yellow-crested Cockatoo (also known as a Lesser-crested Cockatoo) appeared to have been painted from a live model, which would have travelled to Mantua primarily overland, I saw this as evidence of the complexity and range of Southeast Asian trading networks prior to direct European contact. In 2014 I published an article on an Australasian cockatoo in an altarpiece painted in Italy in 1496 by Andrea Mantegna. This was previously thought to be the earliest depiction of a cockatoo in Europe. ![]() Andrea Mantegna’s Madonna della Vittoria, painted in 1496, features a cockatoo above the Madonna’s head (above the cross). The discovery of these images, which are published in the journal Parergon, highlight the fact that during the medieval period, merchants plying the waters just to the north of Australia were part of a flourishing trade network that reached west to the Middle East and beyond. Picture: De Arte Venandi cum Avibus / Alamyįour of these images depict a white cockatoo, described in the text as a crested, talking parrot - a gift from ‘the Sultan of Babylon’. The Holy Roman Emperor King Frederick II of Sicily’s falconry book, De Arte Venandi cum Avibus (The Art of Hunting with Birds) features 900 pictures of birds in its margins. In its margins are nine hundred drawings of falcons, falconers and other animals kept by the emperor at his palaces. Among the hand-written documents, books, and ancient artefacts in the Vatican Library is a 13th century manuscript on falconry written in Latin by or for the Holy Roman Emperor - King Frederick II of Sicily.įrederick’s De Arte Venandi cum Avibus ( The Art of Hunting with Birds) dates from between 12. |
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