In a bearish market, you still want to shave off couple of thousand dollars off your home purchase. In my previous post, I highlighted the infusion of information disseminating tools on the Internet that helps you make wise decision. Redfin is one such web service/tool that helps you save money. Kevin Kelly blogging at Cool [...]
Remodeling your home and can’t afford a decorator? Try out Floorplanner. The online software runs in Flash and lets your drag-and-drop objects to your layout. A free account should suffice although premium options are available too.
Social Explorer presents census data from 1940 to the present in an interesting interactive manner [zoomable maps too]. Check out the easy-to-use report maker that lets you list essential data in selected tracts and compare it to broader geographical regions [via Cyburbia].
Google has been sending GPS kits to India that enable locals to make more detailed maps of their area. After the data has been uploaded and then verified against other participant’s data it becomes a part of the map.
Constructing a cantilever structure is one of the most difficult things for a structural engineers to do. Remember the thumb-rule – for every foot cantilevered, you must anchor it at the support to a depth of 1.5 feet. For an architect, cantilevers are beautiful things and can literally extend capabilities of their building while remaining [...]
I have always loved the concept of moving entire houses. Considering how ‘rooted’ the houses are in India because of the way they are built, this concept was completely unimaginable to me when I first heard of it. Here is a time-lapse video of moving an 1883 carriage house in Portland: I’m sure the old [...]
Google, one of the most innovative companies on the block today stays on the top not by resting on its laurels (an awesome search engine) but by continuously adding to its multitude of web services. Google Maps apart from offering satellite views now gives you a street-level view of certain urban districts in the United [...]
At any given time, there are many quality lectures going around on university campuses across the nation. But grad school life is such that you scarcely get time to get done with your classes, assignments, and research and generally miss out on being exposed to great work right on your campus. I try to get [...]
Note: This is a paid review through the Review Me program. The housing market has cooled in the last few months with the appreciation rate dropping from almost 12% to 0.4% signaling signs of an impending recession even from the former Fed Res. Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan. However, the rental market is buoyant as ever [...]
Note: This is the second in the series of paid reviews through ReviewMe. The real estate market, often an indicator of the national economy, has been doing the yo-yo dance over the last few years and although the market looked optimistic, trends have been on the downward slide since past few months. However, this phase [...]
Turning on the solar power in your home need not be expensive anymore. A renewable energy development company, Citizenre is offering customers to “rent” solar panels for a fixed period of time while paying a per-kilowatt fee replacing the local utility bill. This is a notable effort since the prohibitive aspect of solar power in [...]
In a quiet town in Northern California, there sits atop a hill a house stocked full of the latest gear for the tech-savvy home buyer. Remote-controlled blinds, giant projection-televisions operated by wireless remotes, and automated showers are just some of the features assembled in this power-home. Video here. [tags]technology, high-tech, homes[/tags]