Hey buddy, dont you know this is America?

If youre not sure, then hop in an American-made car and drive down to Brent Greers house in Bradenton, Florida.

The Bradenton Herald has the back story: Greer painted his family home into a gigantic American flag in response to the city filing nine code enforcement violations, including the condition of the houses old coat of paint. What was especially galling to Greer was that the violations came on the heels of an anonymous complaint. The city threatened to fine Greer $250 per day until the violations were addressed.

From the Herald:

There you go: Whats the First Amendment for, if not to take this nations enduring symbol of freedom and use it for spite?

Of course, since you have free speech, too, you could call Greer out for getting the flags canton (star field) wrong, or not adding all 13 stripes. He may be the most American American today, but theres always room for improvement.

Original post:
Angry Guy Paints Gigantic American Flag on Home to Defend His Right to Faulty Wiring, Trash

Belkin CEO Chet Pipkin stands next to a WeMo cube at the 2014 Collision Conference in Las Vegas. Donna Tam/CNET

For Belkin founder Chet Pipkin, the company that began in his parents' Hawthorne, Calif., garage wants to go back home.

After building Belkin into a consumer-electronics brand with more than 1,200 employees and a product line that includes everything from Wi-Fi routers and iPad keyboard cases to power adapters over the past 31 years, Pipkin has seen the future. And his vision has him looking back to his humble garage roots as inspiration for the company's next big push: the smart home.

Pipkin, an easy-going, 53-year-old Southern California resident, has already wired his home. It tells the father of seven when his kids leave the house based on their Wi-Fi signal, lets his wife boil water for tea without getting out of bed in the morning, and tracks the use of all kinds of electronics, from an Xbox to lighting fixtures, through a smartphone app.

"I just love it," he said about the ability to open and close his garage door even when he's not home. "If there's a delivery person, I can see them through the camera and I can talk to them. I can open the garage door to let them in and then close the garage door after."

That's the kind of new thinking behind Belkin's home automation line WeMo, which is the company's biggest effort yet to tap into the rapidly burgeoning smart-home market. ABI Research estimates that the connected home market was worth $9.2 billion in 2013, and will grow to $15.1 billion in five years.

That market of opportunity has drawn tech titans including Google, which ponied up $3.2 billion for smart home thermometer maker Nest in January, and Apple, which earlier this week unveiled its HomeKit smart home platform baked into its iOS 8 mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

C. West McDonald / CNET

Belkin already sells switches and motion sensors -- small devices that let people transform an appliance into a smart device -- and a high-definition, Wi-Fi-connected camera for monitoring and communicating. But new products are in the works. In January, the company showed off LED lights, a smart slow cooker and a do-it-yourself maker kit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Last month, Belkin demonstrated WeMo Echo Technology hardware for monitoring water and electricity usage homes.

Belkin expects to make the LED lightbulbs available in September, while the CrockPot and Maker may go on sale as early as August. The water and electricity products, though, may take another year or two.

Link:
Belkin goes all in on the home of the future

Answer: Employer policy and personal choice prevent me from becoming involved in readers' legal disputes.

But I can tell you many lenders and insurance companies do not look kindly on knob-and-tube, the first generation of electrical wiring installed in houses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Such wiring, and indoor plumbing, for that matter, was typically installed on the walls of existing homes. Later, and in new construction, it was moved behind the walls.

I once was told that knob-and-tube was not a problem if it hadn't been chewed by rodents, but it is inadequate to meet today's needs, is more likely not to have been maintained, and does not meet today's code.

Wiring from 1880 to 1930. That's 84 to 134 years old.

Let's look at the sellers' disclosure law in Pennsylvania. The standard form covers the structure, such as roof, basement, foundation, and walls.

It asks the seller to let buyers know whether the house has been treated for termites or has had water or sewage problems; if the house has been remodeled, and whether the plumbing, electrical, heating, and air-conditioning systems are in good, working order.

If there are hazards or environmental con-

taminants, the seller must disclose these, as well.

How much the seller really knows depends on his or her level of expertise, according to the law. My agent held me to the strictest disclosure standards when I sold my last house in 2001. But most sellers aren't me.

View original post here:
Your Place: Ask an electrician about that dated wiring

Juan Loy was sitting in his living room between Gilmer and Big Sandy when he first smelled the smoke.

It was a Thursday in early May, about a month before the 17-year-old Gladewater High School senior was set to graduate, but in that moment, his only thoughts were getting his family out of the house and calling for help.

It was on a Thursday. I missed (school) that day and the next day to start cleaning up and get as much as we could out as soon as we could. Then all weekend I spent cleaning up, Juan said.

Faulty wiring in the attic was blamed for the fire, which worked its way across much of the home before firefighters could extinguish the blaze. What the flames didnt get became waterlogged.

Juan was at home with his father, mother, brothers daughter, sister and sisters family at the time of the blaze.

Juans mother had the presence of mind to grab his cap, gown and graduation invitations before evacuating the home.

It means a lot more now because I can still graduate, Juan said.

Juan, a Gladewater ISD every-man, has played sports, participates in the band and finished seventh in his class.

It took him the first several years of high school, but Juan finally left the basketball and track teams and focused on tennis, while playing brass instruments for the band.

A lifelong Bear, Juan began with the district as a student at Broadway Elementary School.

Read the original:
Gladewater grad overcomes after home catches fire

The average fixed line home broadband download speed for the largest eight ISPs in the United Kingdom held stable at 21.7Mbps (up from 21.32Mbps in April 2014) and Internet uploads were similarly unchanged at 5.04Mbps. As usual Virgin Media and BT remain the fastest national providers. A new chart that tracks the monthly changes has also been added.

The following summary is based on data gathered using Ooklas universal Speedtest.net service and we then calculate the overall average speeds from only the major national UK ISPs listed below rather than Ooklas overall total (i.e. Ooklas overall figures would be too skewed by business ISPs, niche providers and mobile operators).

Generally speaking May has been a fairly quiet month with no major changes to report; although Zen Internet has snuck into the top 3 after just about managing to unseat PlusNet. Otherwise Virgin continues to be the fastest national broadband ISP for download speeds on 49.36Mbps, with BT coming a distant second at 25.52Mbps (largely due to the high number of slower ADSL2+ users).

Top 8 Big UK ISPs Average Download Speed (Megabits per second) 1. Virgin Media 49.26Mbps 2. BT 25.52Mbps 3. Zen Internet 22.58Mbps 4. PlusNet 21.30Mbps 5. Eclipse Internet 14.99Mbps 6. Sky Broadband 13.46Mbps 7. TalkTalk 13.44Mbps 8. EE 13.05Mbps

Top 8 Big UK ISPs Average Upload Speed 1. BT 7.58Mbps 2. Zen Internet 6.80Mbps 3. PlusNet 6.50Mbps 4. Virgin Media 5.56Mbps 5. Eclipse Internet 4.30Mbps 6. Sky Broadband 3.97Mbps 7. EE (Orange) 3.19Mbps 8. TalkTalk 2.44Mbps

Some readers have also requested that ISPreview.co.uk keep track of individual ISP performance and in response weve included a semi-interactive chart at the bottom that will be used to keep tabs on the listed ISPs, albeit only in terms of downstream performance (uploads change at a far slower rate).

At this stage weve only been doing it since March 2014 and so you wont notice much movement, although the start of Virgin Medias latest double speed upgrade is clearly evident. Take note that the chart will only display if your web browser has enabled JavaScript (most do this by default) and mobile browsers may also need to use Desktop mode to see it.

As usual its important to take average speeds like these with a big pinch of salt. Every home is different and performance can be affected by all sorts of issues, many of which are beyond the ISPs ability to control (e.g. slow wifi or poor home wiring), thus we do not consider the above data to be a reliable barometer for individual users but it can help to highlight general changes in the market.

On top of that its known that Ooklas data attempts to reflect the fastest sustainable throughput performance by dropping a sizeable chunk of the slowest tests and a smaller slice of the fastest results for each ISP, which has its merits but also skews the results a bit. Similarly speedtesting services are rarely perfect, although this is usually more of an issue for ultrafast connections of 100Mbps+ (uncommon).

Read more:
The UK Top 8 Fastest Major Home Broadband ISPs for May 2014

By Jason Gibbs

jgibbs@lcsun-news.com @fjgwriter on Twitter

LAS CRUCES >> It's about more than pounding nails and pulling electrical wire, although there was plenty of both going on at the Las Cruces Home Builders Association's Anniversary House Friday.

The work is a labor of love intended to give back to the Southern New Mexico community.

Construction on the philanthropical project, underway at 3677 Santa Sabina Ave. in the Metro Verde South development on the East Mesa, is on target for a July finish, said LCHBA Executive Officer Steve Chavira. Dubbed the Anniversary House, the home is being constructed to mark the 55th anniversary of the association. John Moscato of Sierra Note Land Holding along with partners Royal Jones and Dean Rigg sold the lot to LCHBA for a significantly discounted price. Kimball Hakes, president of Hakes Brothers Brothers builders approached Moscato to begin the project.

Contractors and LCHBA members are donating or deeply discounting much of the necessary time, labor and material to bring the home's construction cost in as low as possible.

The goal? Have a market-ready home for sale in August, with proceeds going to Las Cruces charities.

And, it looks like that goal is in sight.

A student crew of electrical engineers from the Independent Electrical Contractors group spent Friday installing electrical wiring throughout the house.

"The build-out is gong very well," Chavira said Friday. "It's going up fast and it's a good-quality home being built."

View original post here:
LCHBA Anniversary Home on schedule for August sale

SAN ANTONIO A San Antonio boarding home operator has ignored repeated requests by the city to clean up her facility, which for the past year has been in violation of a host of health and safety codes, according to a lawsuit filed by San Antonio.

The home at 1123 Pasadena has been the site of accumulated trash, unsanitary living conditions, faulty wiring, unsafe food preparation, and a rat and insect infestation, the city alleges.

A judge could order the closure of the home operated by Doreen Silva, who also runs two other boarding homes in San Antonio, both of which are also in violation of codes, according to the city.

Silva has also failed, according to the city, to install a sprinkler system, part of an ordinance passed two years ago to make boarding homes safer for residents, most of whom are people with mental or physical disabilities. Silva was not available for comment.

Since the ordinance passed, 28 homes have voluntarily closed rather than comply with the new law. The city has shut down another six, stating they posed immediate danger to residents.

Read more about the controversy over boarding homes at ExpressNews.com or in Saturday's edition of the Express-News.

mstoeltje@express-news.net

Read the original here:
City seeks to close boarding home

It took Sicily Kolbeck, of Georgia, a year and a half of labor and $10,000 to build the 128-square-foot bungalow with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom Sicily lost her father, Dane Kolbeck, in a car accident a month after construction began She plans to take her tiny dwelling to Baltimore when the family move there in the summer

By Snejana Farberov

Published: 13:42 EST, 27 May 2014 | Updated: 05:36 EST, 28 May 2014

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Building a house from scratch, even a tiny one, is not for the faint of heart, but 14-year-old Sicily Kolbeck has proven she has what it takes to see her passion project through against overwhelming odds.

Kolbeck, from Marietta, Georgia, started work on her diminutive dwelling, lovingly dubbed La Petite Maison, when she was 12.

At the time, the girl was searching for an outside-the-box idea for a school project when she stumbled upon a sizable online community of DIY builders specializing in downsized homes.

Scroll down for video

Read the original:
Home sweet home! Girl, 14, builds herself a tiny $10,000 house as tribute to her late father

By James Coney

Published: 19:02 EST, 27 May 2014 | Updated: 03:18 EST, 28 May 2014

No one who bought a Victorian home would expect it to be totally perfect.

The property has, after all, been lived in. The wiring may be shot, the paintwork peeling, brickwork crumbling and windows draughty.

But if you buy a newly built home you would reasonably expect it to be in pristine condition particularly if youve just splashed out a quarter of a million quid on it.

Problems: If you buy a newly built home at Oxley Woods (pictured) you would reasonably expect it to be in pristine condition

So to find that nails are sticking through the floor, timbers are damp, the garden is a bog and windows leak is understandably devastating.

Even doors that jam and plug sockets that dont work can be a genuine annoyance.

There is a house-building boom in Britain just now, boosted by government schemes such as Help to Buy. Its much needed because we have a chronic shortage of properties.

View post:
JAMES CONEY: Newly built homes should be in pristine condition

SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- One of the two boys injured in a freak bounce house accident has left the hospital and is home continuing to recuperate from multiple broken bones.

The boys, ages 5 and 6, were hurt when they fell about 20 feet from the lightweight inflatable structure that was lifted into the air by a strong gust of wind.

The 5-year-old who landed on a parked car suffered serious head injuries, while the 6-year-old fell on pavement and two broken arms and a broken jaw. Both boys were airlifted to Albany Medical Center Hospital.

"Having kids of your own, its tough to see things like that," said Ross Loffler, a South Glens Falls firefighter who responded to the scene on the afternoon of May 12.

At their families request, the boys names havent been released.

However, the 6-year-old came home late last week and the 5-year-old is no longer in a coma, Harrison Avenue Elementary School Principal Joseph Palmer said Tuesday. The boys are in kindergarten at the school.

Both of the 6-year-olds arms are in a cast and his mouth has been wired because of the broken jaw. The wiring is expected to come off soon, Palmer said.

"Hes able to eat and talk," the principal said. "Hes a terrific little boy."

Palmer said it would be up to the boys family to decide if the 6-year-old returns to school before summer vacation begins next month.

A benefit car wash for both boys will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at South Glens Falls Fire Department Station 2 on Route 197. Another fundraiser is planned for Mr. Bills Restaurant on Route 9 on June 22. This event will include raffles and live music and a portion of restaurant proceeds will go to the families.

Read the original post:
Boy hurt in bounce house mishap now home