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Where Nature Can Flourish; Habitat-Friendly Backyards, Tribal and Private Lands, Schools
Ferida Wolff and Tam Gray write: A wildlife habitat can be in a backyard, on a roof, in a park or a school — wherever we can put together what is needed to make a nature-friendly environment. The NWF has certified over 150,000 sites across the US. Some states have a WHIP program encouraging homeowners by incentives to create a more elaborate habitat. more »
Smart Systems: Don’t Expect to See the ‘Home of the Future’ by 2020
Editor's Note: We built a new home that has Internet, cable and satellite connections facilitating present and future smart systems. IBM is enabling citizens' smartphones with apps alert cities to the existence of potholes, graffiti, and water issues by taking photos and sending them to city management, where they can be dealt with. Sensors that give readouts about human activity are being embedded in shoes, medicine such as asthma inhalers, and medical exploratory surgery devices. more »
Three Bedrooms, A Fireplace, Two or More Baths: 2011 Cost, $272,900
Jim Blandings as played by Cary Grant: "It's a conspiracy, I tell you. The minute you start they put you on the all-American sucker list. You start out to build a home and wind up in the poorhouse. And if it can happen to me, what about the guys who aren't making $15,000 a year?" more »
Dappled Willow Hedge
Ferida Wolff writes: "In browsing the nurseries last year, we came upon the Dappled Willow and immediately fell in love. The white foliage with pinkish tips had an exuberant appeal. These willows are still young but, like toddlers, they already show their potential. They will fill out and grow and, I imagine, charm us as they do so." more »