Apparently these solar tiles are made of glass to simulate roof tiles. Roof shingles were originally made from Cedar wood, but more modern ones are from asphalt. In the UK down my road, some of the houses built at the turn of the century (1900) still have the original slate roofs, but 90% have been replaced with modern concrete tiles. They are heavy and won't blow off in a storm. The drawback is that the concrete tiles being heavy, the older roofs need reinforcing timbers in the roof structure to take the weight. If not you get a sagging top roof line.

In sensible places there are bye-laws which ensure you keep the original look. That is you must stay with slate. It's usually a bad roof angle that causes tiles to be lifted and blown off in high winds. There are bye-laws about roof angles in places as well.

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In sensible places there are bye-laws which ensure you keep the original look

In the UK we have designated "conservation areas" to keep the original character, where they are fairly strict upon what modifications can be done, and the next stage up is the listed buildings, Grade I, II+, and II. If your building is graded then English heritage steps in.

We had a new concrete tiled roof in 1985. We survived the hurricane of 1987 with only the loss of one wooden fence falling over, and the roof of the bottom timber shed in next doors garden. How other roofs lose tiles in lesser storms makes one wonder about building standards elsewhere.

Note the slates in Shetland, which probably gets wind speeds the same as the 1987 hurricane several times every winter. Strict roof slope angles are enforced up there.

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Had a close call back in 2010. A couple of tornados tracked close to home. Had to replace a top rail section on a chainlink fence. A 10 inch tree limb fell on it. But anyways. Weather events like this are much more than any building code can provide for. So what building material is used. It is no match for these extreme winds.

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Note the slates in Shetland, which probably gets wind speeds the same as the 1987 hurricane several times every winter. Strict roof slope angles are enforced up there.

Regions that have steeply sloping roofs are generally those that get snow.
Regions that don't get snow, but get much higher wind speeds in the form of Tropical Cyclones/ Hurricanes, Typhoons often have only a slight slope on the roof as rain doesn't need as great a slope to run off as snow does. And a slightly sloping roof results in less force and stresses being applied to the rest of the building from the wind load, although for a given roof surface it does result in greater lift forces on the roof, even though the lateral forces are significantly reduced.
How the roof top is fastened to the battens, and how they are fastened to the rafters, and how they are fastened to the walls, and how they are fastened to the foundations generally determines how well a roof will deal with strong winds. And the heavier the roofing material, the greater the amount of lift required to remove it, even if it weren't fastened to the structure below.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Weather events like this are much more than any building code can provide for.

You give a engineer the requirements, an they can design a structure that will meet those requirements. However whether or not it's economically viable to build it is an entirely different matter.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Snow in Britain?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/12/often-does-snow-fall-uk-getting-rarer/

Janne you know nothing about snow in the UK other than what you read on the Internet.

You know NOTHING about me.
My sister lives in Liverpool. So do my nephew Matthew born in England!
My sister has lived in England for more than 40 years and she is still amazed of Brit's reaction when it's finally snowing:)

But I bet she is happier living here that where you do, 40 years says a lot :-))

Hmmm....
I wonder why she hasn't applied for UK citizenship.

The world doesn't stop at the english channel.

and it's safe to say, outdated model of the geopolitical world from the time of the cold war

This where ML1's signature message holds true:

It's only the one planet. Some people need to take that onboard.

I have a metal roof, with a peak, and a ridge going lengthwise along the entire roof.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

I would agree that the descriptions generally were applicable to the aftermath of WWII i.e. the Cold War era, but they are still unofficially used today as a concept to describe stable and developing nations. Notice that also we were talking across the English Channel (la manche) not across the Atlantic Ocean.

Post Cold War

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Eastern Bloc ceased to exist; with it, so did all applicability of the term Second World. The definitions of the First World and Third World changed slightly, yet generally described the same concepts.

Tell that part about word definitions changing to a strict constructionist GOP type. You will get an earful about a stable state universe.

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As expected, an Empire view. Amazing that the heart of that empire is now owned by those it colonised :-)

It's Norway's National Day today.

Det är kjempefint:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZXrK3f4zbk
A more contemporary version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VicYjk-Fn4

At an EPA conference yesterday I talking to a Norwegian environmental attorney. He told me that the belief in fairies is so strong in Norway that they typical have to include mitigation measures in project to avoid fairies.
Is that true? I have no reason to doubt him, but I could image trying to explain to my client that he will have to spend xx dollars to mitigate for fairy habitat.

Anyways happy National Norway Day. Enjoy some Reinsdyrsteik for me.

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At an EPA conference yesterday I talking to a Norwegian environmental attorney. He told me that the belief in fairies is so strong in Norway that they typical have to include mitigation measures in project to avoid fairies.
Is that true? I have no reason to doubt him, but I could image trying to explain to my client that he will have to spend xx dollars to mitigate for fairy habitat.
Anyways happy National Norway Day. Enjoy some Reinsdyrsteik for me.

I think he meant elfs:)

http://wiki.mundana.org/index.php?title=%C3%84lvor
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.mundana.org%2Findex.php%3Ftitle%3D%25C3%2584lvor&edit-text=

Well how 'bout that? Wrigley's is advertising at Wrigley Field.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

And the Cubs used to have a Spring Training field on Santa Catalina Island, off of Southern California, all thanks to the Wrigley's.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

‘THIS IS CRAZY’: Austin man sues date for texting during movie

Dateline Round Rock Texas:

A man is suing a Round Rock woman for texting during a movie date at the Barton Creek Square theater, according to a petition filed in small claims court in Travis County.

Brandon Vezmar, 37, of Austin filed the claim Thursday against his date. He is asking for $17.31, which was the price of the movie ticket to a 3D showing of “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2,” he told the American-Statesman Tuesday.

The 35-year-old woman, reached by phone Tuesday, said she didn’t know about the claim against her. She asked that her name not be used.

“Oh my God,” she said. “This is crazy.”

........... Update: Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League has offered a $17.31 gift certificate to settle the lawsuit an Austin man filed against his date for texting during a movie.

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(laughing)... and the Cubs have won 2 games in-a-row now!

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