Teens Are Falling Out of Love With Tech
gift link https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/opinion/teens-tech-skeptics.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SVA.S7f3.4c9yO3tNxpX1&smid=url-share
How Neighborly Do Home Additions Have to Be?
As municipalities encourage more housing density, neighbors debate what kind of construction should be allowed.
China Wants Its Ethnic Minorities to Blend In. Now It’s the Law.
Under a new “ethnic unity” law, Mandarin Chinese must now be the language of teaching. Parents must guide their children to love the Communist Party. Neighborhoods should be mixed.
Terrible. I feel sorry for the neighbors that have to look at this atrocious mess.
We almost bought a house that was going to be in shadow once a huge house was erected behind it. We even bid on the house but our bid was rejected and then construction began on house behind it and we realized we had dodged a bullet.
We have seen other places in our island where huge homes were begun and then for whatever reason halted so they were never completed. It leaves a very expensive mess & eyesore.
Our cottage is across a quiet dirt road from the cottage where our deeded access to the water is located. The cottage across the street is two stories, but it’s not overly huge & it’s located on the side of the property that does not block our view of the water. The people who bought the other cottage have been trying to get us to switch our access to the opposite side of the property so that they can build a bigger cottage … that would completely block our view. It used to be a true cottage community, and we certainly aren’t going to willingly lose our ability to see the water so that our neighbors can have a giant “cottage.”
Animals are so darn cute! 
Before that thing got that far where was the neighbor with there own tape measure? It was stopped for easement issues–neighbor could have had building halted at the beginning.
Not everyone knows the precise location of their property boundaries or the setback required for buildings and sheds. The encroachment might have been flagged by a new inspector when the structure was already in place… someone did not review the plans carefully, or another possible explanation is that the plans weren’t followed by the contractors. Our next door neighbor did exactly the latter. Did not affect us but they had to relocate their pergola and firepit to where they were allowed to be placed.
It’s not the owner’s fault. The article said he got a surveyor to do a survey and an engineer to sign off on the plans. If the survey was faulty, that would be on him to fight out in court with the second/third surveys. The setbacks should have been shown on the plans. That would have been a requirement of getting the building permit. If they weren’t shown, I’m not sure who would have taken the fall for that one. The engineer should have known about setbacks as part of their license. The county should definitely have noticed it as part of their review, but I think the responsibility would still fall on the engineer. But if the surveyor was wrong to begin with, that would fall on them… Edit - and if the builder didn’t build according to plans, that would be on them.
In any case, I don’t think the owner was to blame. And I definitely don’t fault the neighbor for not noticing or knowing about setback requirements. Lots and lots of people have no idea about such things.
I’m also guessing that the issue with a 3rd story messing with a neighbor’s solar panels also wasn’t thought about before changing the requirements in 2021. I am sure they will put in some new language going forward.
(And in many many many cases, the property irons don’t exist anymore. Surveying is HARD!)
We had to replace an old broken fence between our property and a neighbor. We discussed it with our neighbor. They disputed the location of the property line and insisted that we have the property surveyed. It turned out that we had underestimated our property line and now our back yard is 4” wider. 
(At this point our neighbor doesn’t mind, since we are all on the same page now about the property line location, and we made sure they were happy with the new fence style, etc… it’s just funny that the surveyor they insisted on didn’t get the results they expected!)
neighbor might not have realized it was going to be an ugly, boxy 3 story addition.
I blame the architect! There are a lot of other ways they could have gotten the family the space they wanted. Maybe a two story extension off the back. A neighbor of mine had a ranch house very similar to this one and he added a whole second story on it. Did most of the work himself too and it looks amazing. You’d never know it was an addition.
I agree. It feels as if the architect perhaps never even saw the house/lot in person… just the floorplan of existing house.
I loved this.
I Taught My Son Everything, Except How to Take a Vacation
He was about to leave for college when I realized: I had never taken him on a real vacation.
The Sudden Death of a Man Who Told Chinese Kids How to Succeed
The influencer Zhang Xuefeng was known for no-nonsense, some said cynical, advice about how to win in China’s educational rat race. He died at 41.
It Begins as a Tick Bite and Can Be Devastating. And It’s Spreading.
The incidence of alpha-gal syndrome appears to be growing significantly. Patients who are bitten can develop a severe allergy to red meat, and a few have died.
Thank you! That was fascinating. H and I had never heard of it. And the fact that you can get tested for it is great. Just wow.