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NEW YORK — It may not have attracted as much national attention as Barack Obama’s election victory a week earlier. But when President George W. Bush received the Intrepid Freedom Award at the Veterans’ Day reopening of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, there was still plenty of fanfare and media exposure. See Factor was responsible for keeping a tight ship with the stage roof system and lighting package.

LAS VEGAS — After a $25 million facelift, MGM’s Mirage casino relaunched its Volcano attraction, which features a choreographed dance of flames, lighting, fountains and fireballs comparable to WET Design’s other big Strip attraction, the Fountains of Bellagio.

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Energy-guzzling conventional fixtures would have clashed with the shade of green that prevailed at Green Art Fair Miami, part of Art Basel 08 held recently at the Miami Beach Convention Center. So Nick Assunto, CEO of Visual Formula, lit the fair using 82 solar- and biodiesel-powered Chauvet LED wash fixtures instead. The gear included ColoRado 1, ColoRado 3, LEDsplash-2 and Q-Wash LED fixtures.

PITTSBURGH — “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is the first track on AC/DC’s Black Ice album, and the set for the band’s first world tour in eight years was designed with a locomotive theme in mind. “The five curved trusses represent the roof beams of a railway station,” said Dave Hill, co-lighting designer, of the 100-foot-wide arches custom made for the tour, used to form a curved array of gear including Coemar Infinity Wash XLs.

Calculated Industries’ Electri-Calc LT is geared to help electricians calculate high amperage values and voltage calculations. It can help pinpoint amps per phase, total watts, copper size, line voltage loss, KVA or KW translations and more. It calculates in all voltages and phases. It works in specific electrical terms and values and uses specialized function keys. Features include the ability to solve electrical math problems, calculate copper or aluminum wire sizes, figure parallel and de-rated wire sizes and calculate average voltage drop and grounding conductor sizes. It works like a regular calculator and has a battery-saving auto shut-off feature. It comes with a users guide, one-year warrantee and vinyl case, and is priced at $49.99.

LOS ANGELES —  Like TV screens themselves, the 60th annual Emmy Awards program went HD in a big way this year. Staged at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, HD images during the event appeared on 15 different screens, including five projection screens, four LED displays and six plasma flat panel displays.