Here’s a list of 14 things that I would ask for from a homeowner’s association if I were considering buying into it—beyond what the standard purchase offer requires.
[Full text]HOA, Show Me Your Stuff
February 11th, 2012Secret Baining memoir revealed
November 2nd, 2011I point to a hitherto concealed memoir about the anthropologically frustrating Baining people.
[Full text]Do-It-Yourself Seismic Screening
October 20th, 2011No progress is detectable toward the general availability of tools for do-it-yourself seismic screening of existing buildings, since I wrote about this in May 2010.
[Full text]PanLex, Copyright, and Licensing
October 7th, 2011There is now a lawsuit over whether time-zone data can be protected by copyright. This follows older litigation on telephone directories. It may affect the lexical data used in the PanLex project.
[Full text]Raceway Recommendation
October 2nd, 2011I found a well-designed raceway for low-voltage wiring.
[Full text]Thanks, Governor Brown
September 18th, 2011Governor Brown, after receiving my supportive letter, signed Senate Bill 563 this month. Some of my neighbors were livid, suggesting they might sue me for the letter.
[Full text]Never Use Email
September 12th, 2011Berkeley Town House’s attorney recommends all directors of housing communities avoid using email. I answer no thanks.
[Full text]Corporate Linguicide
August 12th, 2011See this attack on a company that kills languages.
[Full text]Native Speech Status
August 6th, 2011Native speakers of languages enjoy superior statuses to non-native speakers as providers of grammatical evidence in linguistics. This superiority is accorded to them as well in language documentation and language standardization, where the motivation for such a status distinction isn’t obvious.
[Full text]PayPal Account Closure
July 27th, 2011Thank you, Anonymous, for reminding me to close my PayPal account.
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