Things To Do In SW Florida

By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The latest sign of trouble in the U.S. housing market: A pickup in home purchase agreements falling through before they’re finalized.

Some 6% of pending contracts to buy a home were canceled in May, down from 7% in April, but up from 5% in May last year, according to data from National Association of Realtors. May is the third consecutive month with an annual increase in pending home sales cancelations.

A separate analysis of housing data by Redfin found that 14.6% of all pending sales in May fell out of contract, up from 14% in May last year, and the highest cancelation percentage for the month of May going back to at least 2017.

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When builder Phil Kean got the call about remodeling one final home for the International Builders’ Show, he hesitated at first, then jumped at the chance.

“It’s fun to get to play and showcase our talents and show off a little bit,” he said with a laugh.

Kean is working on a 3,341-square-foot home on Palmer Avenue in Winter Park. It will be The New American Remodel show home at February’s NAHB International Builders’ Show, the last before the show moves to Las Vegas.

“This house was built in the 50s, had an addition done maybe 20 plus years later, and then another addition done another 20 plus years later,” Kean said. “It had a style from the 50s, from the 80s, from the 2000s, so it had a mishmash of styles.”

When the project is finished in October, the three-bedroom home will look very different, both inside and out.

“I think the big wow will be the exterior façade, to go from what it was to what it is going to be, I think is really going to be memorable.

“We took all these styles and we made it sort of a 1940s Miami Coconut Grove kind of cottage, and it has sort of that tropical flair to it,” he said. read more

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — When the Trump family unveiled a new phone before a giant American flag at its headquarters earlier this month, the pitch was simple and succinct, packed with pure patriotism: “Made in the U.S.A.”

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The Trumps are apparently having second thoughts.

How about “proudly American”?

Those are the two words that have replaced the “Made in the USA” pitch that just a few days ago appeared on the website where customers can pre-order the so-called T-1 gold-toned phones with an American flag etched on the back. Elsewhere on the site, other vague terms are now being used, describing the $499 phone as boasting an “American-Proud Design” and “brought to life right here in the U.S.A.” read more

By JEFF AMY

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia has become the latest state where a federal judge has blocked a law requiring age verification for social media accounts.

Like in seven other states where such laws have been blocked, a federal judge ruled Thursday that the Georgia law infringes on free speech rights.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg means that the Georgia measure, which passed in 2024, won’t take effect next week as scheduled. Instead, Totenberg granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law until there’s a full ruling on the issue.

Georgia’s law would require some social media providers to take “commercially reasonable” steps to verify a user’s age and require children younger than 16 to get parental permission for accounts. It was challenged by NetChoice, a trade group representing online businesses.

“The state seeks to erect barriers to speech that cannot withstand the rigorous scrutiny that the Constitution requires,” Totenberg wrote, finding the law restricts the rights of minors, chills the right to anonymous speech online and restricts the ability of people to receive speech from social media platforms. read more

Nearly every Windows user has had a run in with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” at some point in their computing life. Now, after more than 40-years of being set against a very recognizable blue, the updated error message will soon be displayed across a black background.

The changes to the notorious error screen come as part of broader efforts by Microsoft to improve the resiliency of the Windows operating system in the wake of last year’s CrowdStrike incident, which crashed millions of Windows machines worldwide.

“Now it’s easier than ever to navigate unexpected restarts and recover faster,” Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft wrote in a Wednesday announcement.

As part of that effort, Microsoft says it’s “streamlining” what users experience when encountering “unexpected restarts” that cause disruptions. And that means a makeover to the infamous error screen.

Beyond the now-black background, Windows’ new “screen of death” has a slightly shorter message. It’s also no longer accompanied by a frowning face — and instead shows a percentage completed for the restart process. read more