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Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

mcmansionhell.com

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Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#301

Post by dionidium »

peacetreefrog wrote: post #248
jasondemeuse wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why should anyone care what sort of house people choose to build, buy or live in? Maybe because that's what she is knowledgable in, and she wants to point out bad practices in the industry she's involved in, or because they make expensive houses with cheap products that are only built to resell as opposed to have someone actually live there for an extended period of time? Look, these things might not mean anything t…

My impression of this blog isn't it's constructive (though I suppose if you just do the opposite of what she's ripping on it could be) but it's definitely not calling out bad practices with broad strokes. It's calling out individual homes (with pictures) that actual people live in presumably because that's what they decided they liked. I hadn't seen /r/programminghorror before either. I think if you could pretty easi…

"presumably because that's what they decided they liked"

Not all opinions are created equal. They may have liked it, but it's this blog's assertion that they're wrong. Best of all, most of us not in the field will learn something new from the descriptions of why they're wrong.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#302

Post by cyclist89 »

Splines wrote: post #291
madhadron wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hadn't run across zones before. I've always set up cooking areas for the flows of material. Ingredients come from storage, are prepped, put into holding, cooked, plated, served, and the dishes and remains returned afterwards. The kitchen triangle serves a wide range of flows for a single cook, thus its popularity. When you have multiple cooks, it changes. If you have a lot of different things being cooked, you want…

Getting OT, but if you want a hilarious game simulation of dealing with poor kitchen design with multiple cooks (with a strong heaping of the brigade system), check out the game "Overcooked".

Boyfriend and I just beat Overcooked yesterday (three stars on every single level!), so lots of the kitchen design mistakes are still fresh in my mind (worst level imo was the kitchen with floating icebergs separating it into 3, mostly ice-covered partitions). Awesome game though :)

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#303

Post by jessaustin »

closeparen wrote: post #287
defen wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they're living on the other side of the country, I don't care. If they're knocking down perfectly fine, correctly-scaled houses in my neighborhood in order to build huge monstrosities that parasitize the aesthetic niceness of the neighborhood that is due in large part to correctly-sized and shaped houses then I get upset. Example happening in my town: builder buys a normal-sized house on a large lot for $800K. Kno…

... how is that not being a NIMBY? You want fewer homes in your neighborhood (1 vs. 2 on a lot), on aesthetic grounds. What else did you think anyone meant by NIMBY?

HN has featured many more extreme examples of NIMBYism.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#304

Post by [deleted] »

closeparen wrote: post #287
defen wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they're living on the other side of the country, I don't care. If they're knocking down perfectly fine, correctly-scaled houses in my neighborhood in order to build huge monstrosities that parasitize the aesthetic niceness of the neighborhood that is due in large part to correctly-sized and shaped houses then I get upset. Example happening in my town: builder buys a normal-sized house on a large lot for $800K. Kno…

... how is that not being a NIMBY? You want fewer homes in your neighborhood (1 vs. 2 on a lot), on aesthetic grounds. What else did you think anyone meant by NIMBY?

[deleted]

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#305

Post by taneq »

dnautics wrote: post #254
emodendroket wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of time on that blog was spent mocking purely aesthetic features of the homes and I feel like if you like the aesthetic then there is not much else to consider.

But I don't think even people who acquire or live in those homes like the esthetic. Remember,mcmansions wind up the way they are because they're ticking off a list of 'things that algorithmically increase the home value'. That's what creates a sense of Inbalance and forces the house to contort into strange forms. Most denizens, I suspect, probably feel that something is not quite right but couldn't put their finger o…

> Most denizens, I suspect, probably feel that something is not quite right

Do they, though? Maybe they're completely happy with their houses and we're just assuming the grapes are sour.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#306

Post by cookiecaper »

pyre wrote: post #292
cookiecaper wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty conventional in these types of cases. I've received a similar C&D and read several others and they all invoke the CFAA. It seems boilerplate for C&D related to online activities. The CFAA makes it unlawful to exceed authorized access to any protected computer system (essentially, any computer in the United States). If someone claims that you've violated their ToS, they almost always also claim that by so…

The US Justice Dept. tested that theory (violation of ToS is a violation of the CFAA) in court, but it didn't fly. The judge correctly pointed out that this basically gives companies carte blanche to make something a Federal crime via their Terms of Service.

Which case are you referring to?

weev was convicted and sent to prison for violating the CFAA, based on his "unauthorized access" to AT&T's site (the limits of which are presumably defined by the ToS). His conviction was reversed on the technicality of improper venue, not the dubious nature of the conviction or the belief that ToS should not be eval'd into federal law.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#307

Post by DonHopkins »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #299
DonHopkins wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember him from Sun, where he was both a great engineer and a great architect. Looks like he's moved on from TCP/IP to HVAC. ;) http://www.sunengineering.net/PROJECTS/Residential/TheBackSh...

Ok, that is just hilarious! Of course that Chuck comes from the 'McManus' side of the family not the 'McManis' side.

When I saw "high efficiency media filters" I was sure it must be your work.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#308

Post by Neeek »

buckbova wrote: post #124
strictnein wrote: post #27

Funny. One of the homes they showed is in my area, and I had driven by it recently (since we're thinking about moving). And they're definitely right. It's a weird mix of horribleness. Especially the kitchen with its "update", aka let's throw in a couple of premium appliances and $2k worth of marble and call it a day. http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/162143229176/50-states-of-... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19…

> Especially the kitchen with its "update" Wow. I really expected you were exaggerating but it really is terrible. There's not much square footage why the hell didn't they put in new cabinets at least?

Didn't the writer say this was one of the only kitchens shown on the blog that she likes? That doesn't mean you have to agree of course, I Just don't really know what makes a good kitchen :)

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#309

Post by soheil »

uses wrote: post #69

I totally understand the whole "McMansions are bad architecture" thing... However, something about it really bothers me. There was an episode of 99% Invisible where the guest was talking about their McMansions blog and how it makes fun of these Horrid dwellings. The whole thing stank of classist elitism. The Wrong Type of people were getting the chance to design and build large houses, and of course they're applying…

> The whole thing stank of classist elitism

Agreed. Driving a Mercedes is a status symbol, I don't see her complaining about the unnecessary Swarovski crystals in the headlights of an S class, but oh no those columns that "serve no function and remind of me of a bank where I keep my money" they are fundamentally different and must go.

Re: Zillow forces McMansion Hell to delete posts

#310

Post by jessaustin »

cookiecaper wrote: post #306
pyre wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US Justice Dept. tested that theory (violation of ToS is a violation of the CFAA) in court, but it didn't fly. The judge correctly pointed out that this basically gives companies carte blanche to make something a Federal crime via their Terms of Service.

Which case are you referring to? weev was convicted and sent to prison for violating the CFAA, based on his "unauthorized access" to AT&T's site (the limits of which are presumably defined by the ToS). His conviction was reversed on the technicality of improper venue, not the dubious nature of the conviction or the belief that ToS should not be eval'd into federal law.

Did ATT's TOS say e.g. "we have a bunch of customers' PII posted online; please don't read those"? It seems, rather, that the court considered the act itself bad enough to punish regardless of any implied agreement forbidding or allowing the act. (Of course I think the court is wrong.)

IANAL, but my feeling is that eventually the evil companies will come up with a TOS so awful that even the Supreme Court will be sickened by it and be inspired to thoroughly reevaluate CFAA. They won't throw it out entirely, but they'll pick out a particular set of valid terms, and we'll learn to live with TOSes built with those.

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