Archives for the 'General' Category
Today’s Theme: The End Of Things
Three construction related links – stretching back to 1837 and looking toward the future:
A chapel in London carried a ingenious technological advancement that I didn’t even know existed. The church features a hydraulic coffin lift to facilitate funerary service.
Link to Article
This article features a series of photos that document the demolition of a nuclear facility [...]
22 May 2007 | Construction, General, Photography | Comments Off
High-Dynamic-Range Photography: A Guide
Previously, shccinc.com featured an example of HDR photography that documented the Tokyo skyline. There is a whole group or pool on Flickr comprised of HDR imagery. This article from Popular Science goes one step further and explains a DIY method for producing beautiful HDR images using a digital camera and off-the-shelf commercial software or even [...]
13 May 2007 | General, Photography, Technology | Comments Off
Compare and Contrast: Two Mega-Developments In The Desert
Two new massive tourist/residential/commercial mixed-use developments are underway in the desert. One in the Middle East and one in Las Vegas. The number factor in the viability of any desert project is accounting for the environmental conditions presented by temperature extremes that would be considered inhospitable by most. This usually means expending energy on an [...]
13 May 2007 | Business, Construction, General, Green Building | Comments Off
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
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
Plane on the roof
This comes from the flickr stream of one known as phrenologist. This is a picture of a replica of a Sopwith Camel posed on the faux runway atop a building in Manhattan.
Link to Article
18 March 2007 | General, Photography | Comments Off
