Monster Homes Under Attack

CNN carries an article on how “Monster Homes Are Under Attack” in communities nationwide. The most interesting part of the article is the section of statistics.

“Back in 1950, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the average new house clocked in at 963 square feet. By 1970, that figure had swollen to 1,500 square feet.

Today’s average: 2,400 square feet. One in five are more than 3,000 square feet.

Oddly, as houses expanded, the number of household members shrank, from 3.1 people in 1971 to 2.6 people today. The average building-lot size contracted also, to about 8,000 square feet from 9,000 in the 1980s.”

FCC Deals Blow to DSL Competition

Slashdot carries a story on the FCC’s reclassification of DSL as “information service” instead of “telecommunications.” The result is a major blow to America’s communications infrastructure. Without competition on copper from companies like Sonic.net, the US will slip further and further behind places like Korea and Hong Kong as they move towards connections of 100 megabits per second or faster. See FCC Reclassifies DSL, Drops Common Carrier Rules.