Archives for April 2007

RSS in Plain English from Common Craft

RSS is an abbreviation of Really Simple Syndication, but for not technical users, there isn’t anything simple about it at all. Finally, however, someone has come up with a truly magnificent way of explaining how it works and how to use it. Why is that relevant? Well for one, this website/blog uses RSS so that [...]

25 April 2007 | General, Technology | Comments Off

Are old houses really built to last?

While it’s often said that consumer products—from electronic devices to Ikea furniture—are “made to break,” a little over a year ago I started wondering about buildings. Do real estate interests, I wondered, plan for obsolescence in the same way product designers do?

Carrie McLaren, at Stay Free!, posted a fascinating interview recently with Robert Zagaroli III, [...]

24 April 2007 | Construction, General, Green Building, Technology | Comments Off

ChangeThis – Executive Hubris

ChangeThis is a new media publishing firm. Every month they publish so-called manifestos that cover a variety of topics involving the creation and marketing of ideas. The authors are top-notch and the manifestos are beautifully typeset PDFs that look good on the screen and on paper. This month’s serving of ChangeThis features a reality check [...]

12 April 2007 | Business, Consulting, Experts, General | Comments Off

The Liberation that comes with Limits and Restrictions

Recently over at Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds wrote about the theory of decreased rather than increased creativity resulting from limitless restriction. It is these requirements and limitations that provide a structure within which the truly creative and successful excel.
In my construction defect investigations I focus on the “what” so much I rarely think of the [...]

10 April 2007 | Construction, Construction Defect, Construction and Law, General, Inspections, Litigation | Comments Off

Real Estate and Construction Law Blog On Federal Arbitration Act Ruling

“While Section 1298.7 of the California Code of Civil Procedure generally allows homebuyers to pursue defect litigation in court regardless of an agreement to arbitrate, the Third District Court of Appeal recently ruled the Federal Arbitration Act preempts California law and binds homebuyers to arbitration provisions when the transaction involves interstate commerce.”
Thus begins a rather [...]

10 April 2007 | Construction, Construction Defect, Construction and Law, Litigation | Comments Off

McMansion – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Who knew that there was such a detailed definition of the term, McMansion? Below is an excerpt:
McMansion is a slang architectural term which first came into use in the United States during the 1980s as a pejorative description and an idiom. It describes a particular style of housing that—as its name suggests—is both large like [...]

8 April 2007 | Construction, General | Comments Off

Fit for a king: LeBron’s house to have theater, casino

Once completed, there are few residences that will compare to this home in the world:
LeBron James’ 35,440-square-foot house under construction in nearby Bath Township is shaping up as a castle fit for a king — with a theater, bowling alley, casino and barber shop.
The house in a suburban location 20 miles south of Cleveland is [...]

8 April 2007 | Construction, General | Comments Off