Want a new toy but you’ve still got the old one? Here’s an easy way to rid yourself of this thorny dilemma.
You can trade in your old electronic gizmos at 1,470 participating Target stores, through a program run by Nextworth recycling company.
Target is one of the retail stores that’s participating in this program, check the website, http://target.nextworth.com/, for others you can visit.
Just bring in your electronic device to the Target Mobile kiosk and a clerk will value it for you and tell you how much it’s worth. You can also mail it in, if you don’t have a store nearby. They’ll give you a gift card or store credit on the spot.
They accept items such as iPhones, iPads, digital cameras, game consoles, e-readers, laptops, movies, video games and more.
You can call (888) 969-4763 Monday thru Friday 9AM to 5 PM eastern time for more information, or email them at customerservice@nextworth.com.
Source: The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) Distributed by MCT Information Services.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Real estate agents opting for mobile office
Response time can be the No. 1 deal breaker when securing business with a client.
Craig Grant drove that point home during his “How to Become a Realty Mobile Warrior” presentation at Florida Realtors Mid-Winter Meetings in January. If an agent responds within one hour, there’s an 84 percent chance of securing the business, he said. Wait 24 hours, and the percentage drops to 11 percent.
However, mobile technology needs vary. If an agent just wants to stay in touch, check email and use apps to monitor the local market, the mobile setup will be much different than a fully functional “office” at your fingertips.
The bottom line: You need to be in touch with the world. A good starting point before buying or upgrading to a mobile office is to set a budget, and make a list of the features and requirements needed now and in the foreseeable future.
To that end, Grant offers these suggestions:
• Do you want to run your entire office remotely? If so, you need a laptop, notebook or ultra portable computer with lots of performance power. Compare size, price, weight and portability of each device. Tablet computers, such as iPads, are designed for mobile productivity but require workarounds for compatibility issues.
• Do you just want to take calls, use email and apps? Smartphones serve many purposes, but because of their size, processor and browser limitations, be clear about what functions you need to access. What sites do you visit with your mobile device? Do they have mobile dashboards?
• Before buying hardware or software, read online reviews, which can be found using Google – or any search engine.
• Talk to salespeople/geeks – don’t depend on the advice of a friend’s 16-year-old techno whiz. Pay special attention to the ones who ask you: What are you using this equipment for?
• Make sure your existing equipment is compatible with upgrades. Microsoft.com and Apple.com can show you if a potential new computer would run your old programs.
• What type of tech support does it need? The Florida Realtors Technology Helpline is a free resource for members and available six days a week as a support backup to answer questions. Manufacturers also offer online support – but be ready to hang on the line for a long time.
• Consider battery life, number of ports and other functionality features. Closely study phone data plans for the devices. For instance, video presentations and live streaming eat up data usage on a Smartphone or iPad pretty fast if you don’t have WiFi access. Speaking of WiFi, PDAnet software and apps can turn your smart phone into a wireless router so you can connect to your computer (MAC or PC) and iPad.
• Depending on the device, you may need workaround solutions to access forms and MLS data. Form Simplicity users, for instance, can view forms but can’t open or modify contents on an iPad. However, remote desktop-sharing software solves that issue. The Florida Realtors Technology Helpline suggests using TeamViewer software so that the iPad essentially owns your remote computer and can use functions from there.
Working out of the office is just part of the way Realtors do business. Get the right tools, and you’re on the road to success.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Craig Grant drove that point home during his “How to Become a Realty Mobile Warrior” presentation at Florida Realtors Mid-Winter Meetings in January. If an agent responds within one hour, there’s an 84 percent chance of securing the business, he said. Wait 24 hours, and the percentage drops to 11 percent.
However, mobile technology needs vary. If an agent just wants to stay in touch, check email and use apps to monitor the local market, the mobile setup will be much different than a fully functional “office” at your fingertips.
The bottom line: You need to be in touch with the world. A good starting point before buying or upgrading to a mobile office is to set a budget, and make a list of the features and requirements needed now and in the foreseeable future.
To that end, Grant offers these suggestions:
• Do you want to run your entire office remotely? If so, you need a laptop, notebook or ultra portable computer with lots of performance power. Compare size, price, weight and portability of each device. Tablet computers, such as iPads, are designed for mobile productivity but require workarounds for compatibility issues.
• Do you just want to take calls, use email and apps? Smartphones serve many purposes, but because of their size, processor and browser limitations, be clear about what functions you need to access. What sites do you visit with your mobile device? Do they have mobile dashboards?
• Before buying hardware or software, read online reviews, which can be found using Google – or any search engine.
• Talk to salespeople/geeks – don’t depend on the advice of a friend’s 16-year-old techno whiz. Pay special attention to the ones who ask you: What are you using this equipment for?
• Make sure your existing equipment is compatible with upgrades. Microsoft.com and Apple.com can show you if a potential new computer would run your old programs.
• What type of tech support does it need? The Florida Realtors Technology Helpline is a free resource for members and available six days a week as a support backup to answer questions. Manufacturers also offer online support – but be ready to hang on the line for a long time.
• Consider battery life, number of ports and other functionality features. Closely study phone data plans for the devices. For instance, video presentations and live streaming eat up data usage on a Smartphone or iPad pretty fast if you don’t have WiFi access. Speaking of WiFi, PDAnet software and apps can turn your smart phone into a wireless router so you can connect to your computer (MAC or PC) and iPad.
• Depending on the device, you may need workaround solutions to access forms and MLS data. Form Simplicity users, for instance, can view forms but can’t open or modify contents on an iPad. However, remote desktop-sharing software solves that issue. The Florida Realtors Technology Helpline suggests using TeamViewer software so that the iPad essentially owns your remote computer and can use functions from there.
Working out of the office is just part of the way Realtors do business. Get the right tools, and you’re on the road to success.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Facebook shows relentless global growth
In country after country, Facebook is toppling the incumbent local social network in what seems like an unstoppable march to global dominance.
After overtaking Microsoft’s Windows Live Profile in Portugal and Mexico in early 2010, Facebook eclipsed StudiVZ in Germany and Google’s Orkut in India later that year, and soon unseated Hyves in the Netherlands, according to metrics firm comScore. Now Facebook is poised to triumph in what has been viewed as its ultimate popularity contest, with comScore indicating the network is likely to dethrone Orkut in social media-mad Brazil when its December data is released.
Facebook’s relentless spread is a vindication of founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growth-first principle, under which the social network has focused primarily on adding users, not building revenue, since its beginning. Facebook will surpass 1 billion users in the next few months, analysts say, and that population will be a huge asset it can tout to investors as the company prepares for an initial public offering of stock as soon as spring.
“It’s been really surprising to us to see how quickly Facebook has grown, not just in Western countries or English-speaking countries, but pretty much around the world,” said Carmela Aquino of comScore. “I think part of it is the network effect – when you have a big enough mass of people beginning to jump on a social network, it’s only a matter of time that their friends get on the same network, and it starts to spread.”
Facebook is now used by more than half the population in the U.S. and a number of other countries, according to analytics company Socialbakers, but its growth is slowing in North America and much of Europe as it approaches a saturation point. Still, as Facebook prepares for its IPO, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networking company’s massive expansion in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam suggests the social network has a bright future.
For investors, Facebook’s rise in Asia, South America and other developing nations “is a proof point that they can make it everywhere in the world,” said Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers. He believes the social network’s user population could swell from more than 800 million to 1 billion as soon as April, a threshold that would be a selling point for potential buyers of its stock. “I think they are going to announce it with the IPO; I think that’s the strategic thing to do,” Rezab said.
Facebook, which started in 2004 as a way for students at Ivy League universities and Stanford to socialize and didn’t open up to the public until 2006, first saw a majority of its traffic coming from outside the U.S. in 2009, according to Socialbakers. Now more than four out of five Facebook users log on from other countries.
Other online social networks also have a global draw. U.S.-based Twitter and LinkedIn pull a large majority of their visitors from outside the U.S. Even the most popular Russian social network, VKontakte, draws 43 percent of its traffic from outside Russia, according to a recent comScore study on the growth of social networks, which now reach 82 percent of the world’s online population, or 1.2 billion people.
Just two years ago, 46 percent of visits to LinkedIn, the professional social network, came from outside the U.S., according to data comScore prepared at the request of this newspaper. Now 62 percent come from outside the U.S.
That sense of a borderless world for successful social networks is nowhere more true than in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest country, where Google’s Orkut had been the entrenched king for years. Orkut had six times the volume of Facebook’s monthly traffic as recently as January 2010. But while Orkut continued to grow, Facebook’s Brazilian traffic erupted in 2011, according to comScore.
People familiar with the Brazilian Internet market say there were many factors in Facebook’s sudden rise in the South American nation of 200 million people, including Facebook’s availability in the local language and the globalization of people’s social ties.
Compared with Orkut, “Facebook is much more universal, and there are a lot of ex-Brazilians living outside Brazil,” said Ron Czerny, CEO of PlayPhone, a mobile gaming platform that uses Facebook and Orkut to promote its games and has offices in Silicon Valley and Brazil. “The fact that they can connect to their friends and family, that helped (Facebook) a lot.”
Czerny, who is Brazilian, said the availability of games on Facebook in the Brazilian dialect of Portuguese was another big boost. The aura of American hipness and fashion that many Brazilians associated with Facebook also held sway with many people, said Czerny and others.
At the beginning of 2010, Facebook was not the leading social network in 13 of the 43 international markets tracked by comScore. That has now dropped to six of those countries, including China, where the government blocks it.
Facebook believes there were other factors in its global adoption, particularly the software application launched in 2008 that allows users to collaborate to rapidly build a model that translates Facebook into their local language.
Facebook also made a key move in its purchase last year of mobile technology company Snaptu, which made software that allows more than 2,500 models of more basic-feature phones to access Facebook with much of the same functionality as an iPhone or Android smartphone. That opened a gateway to Facebook in countries where few people can afford a smartphone or a PC to go online.
Rezab also said the linguistic translation abilities of Facebook are key because it helps Facebook feel like a local experience instead of a Silicon Valley import.
“The majority of the content on Facebook, or YouTube for that matter, is purely local,” Rezab said. “These networks succeeded by being globally local, if you know what I mean.”
Source: the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) Distributed by MCT Information Services.
After overtaking Microsoft’s Windows Live Profile in Portugal and Mexico in early 2010, Facebook eclipsed StudiVZ in Germany and Google’s Orkut in India later that year, and soon unseated Hyves in the Netherlands, according to metrics firm comScore. Now Facebook is poised to triumph in what has been viewed as its ultimate popularity contest, with comScore indicating the network is likely to dethrone Orkut in social media-mad Brazil when its December data is released.
Facebook’s relentless spread is a vindication of founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growth-first principle, under which the social network has focused primarily on adding users, not building revenue, since its beginning. Facebook will surpass 1 billion users in the next few months, analysts say, and that population will be a huge asset it can tout to investors as the company prepares for an initial public offering of stock as soon as spring.
“It’s been really surprising to us to see how quickly Facebook has grown, not just in Western countries or English-speaking countries, but pretty much around the world,” said Carmela Aquino of comScore. “I think part of it is the network effect – when you have a big enough mass of people beginning to jump on a social network, it’s only a matter of time that their friends get on the same network, and it starts to spread.”
Facebook is now used by more than half the population in the U.S. and a number of other countries, according to analytics company Socialbakers, but its growth is slowing in North America and much of Europe as it approaches a saturation point. Still, as Facebook prepares for its IPO, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networking company’s massive expansion in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, South Korea and Vietnam suggests the social network has a bright future.
For investors, Facebook’s rise in Asia, South America and other developing nations “is a proof point that they can make it everywhere in the world,” said Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers. He believes the social network’s user population could swell from more than 800 million to 1 billion as soon as April, a threshold that would be a selling point for potential buyers of its stock. “I think they are going to announce it with the IPO; I think that’s the strategic thing to do,” Rezab said.
Facebook, which started in 2004 as a way for students at Ivy League universities and Stanford to socialize and didn’t open up to the public until 2006, first saw a majority of its traffic coming from outside the U.S. in 2009, according to Socialbakers. Now more than four out of five Facebook users log on from other countries.
Other online social networks also have a global draw. U.S.-based Twitter and LinkedIn pull a large majority of their visitors from outside the U.S. Even the most popular Russian social network, VKontakte, draws 43 percent of its traffic from outside Russia, according to a recent comScore study on the growth of social networks, which now reach 82 percent of the world’s online population, or 1.2 billion people.
Just two years ago, 46 percent of visits to LinkedIn, the professional social network, came from outside the U.S., according to data comScore prepared at the request of this newspaper. Now 62 percent come from outside the U.S.
That sense of a borderless world for successful social networks is nowhere more true than in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest country, where Google’s Orkut had been the entrenched king for years. Orkut had six times the volume of Facebook’s monthly traffic as recently as January 2010. But while Orkut continued to grow, Facebook’s Brazilian traffic erupted in 2011, according to comScore.
People familiar with the Brazilian Internet market say there were many factors in Facebook’s sudden rise in the South American nation of 200 million people, including Facebook’s availability in the local language and the globalization of people’s social ties.
Compared with Orkut, “Facebook is much more universal, and there are a lot of ex-Brazilians living outside Brazil,” said Ron Czerny, CEO of PlayPhone, a mobile gaming platform that uses Facebook and Orkut to promote its games and has offices in Silicon Valley and Brazil. “The fact that they can connect to their friends and family, that helped (Facebook) a lot.”
Czerny, who is Brazilian, said the availability of games on Facebook in the Brazilian dialect of Portuguese was another big boost. The aura of American hipness and fashion that many Brazilians associated with Facebook also held sway with many people, said Czerny and others.
At the beginning of 2010, Facebook was not the leading social network in 13 of the 43 international markets tracked by comScore. That has now dropped to six of those countries, including China, where the government blocks it.
Facebook believes there were other factors in its global adoption, particularly the software application launched in 2008 that allows users to collaborate to rapidly build a model that translates Facebook into their local language.
Facebook also made a key move in its purchase last year of mobile technology company Snaptu, which made software that allows more than 2,500 models of more basic-feature phones to access Facebook with much of the same functionality as an iPhone or Android smartphone. That opened a gateway to Facebook in countries where few people can afford a smartphone or a PC to go online.
Rezab also said the linguistic translation abilities of Facebook are key because it helps Facebook feel like a local experience instead of a Silicon Valley import.
“The majority of the content on Facebook, or YouTube for that matter, is purely local,” Rezab said. “These networks succeeded by being globally local, if you know what I mean.”
Source: the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) Distributed by MCT Information Services.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Mobile real estate trends in 2012
With more consumers using mobile devices to search for properties and call or e-mail agents, agents and brokers need to have a mobile strategy, according to panelists at the recent Real Estate Connect conference.
Top Producer’s new customer relationship management system runs on the HTML5 mobile platform, and Realtor.org will be rolled out with an HTML5-based responsive design this month. Web sites with responsive design automatically adjust the screen size based on the visitor’s device – which Mark Lesswing, senior vice president and chief technology officer at the National Association of Realtors, says is less expensive than developing separate native apps for different mobile platforms.
However, other panelists said consumers – particularly millennials – prefer native apps and place a high value on user experience. Even so, brokers should ensure they have mobile sites before working on other aspects of their mobile strategy.
Panelists added that small brokers should partner with vendors to purchase technology, rather than spend time and money developing technology in-house.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Top Producer’s new customer relationship management system runs on the HTML5 mobile platform, and Realtor.org will be rolled out with an HTML5-based responsive design this month. Web sites with responsive design automatically adjust the screen size based on the visitor’s device – which Mark Lesswing, senior vice president and chief technology officer at the National Association of Realtors, says is less expensive than developing separate native apps for different mobile platforms.
However, other panelists said consumers – particularly millennials – prefer native apps and place a high value on user experience. Even so, brokers should ensure they have mobile sites before working on other aspects of their mobile strategy.
Panelists added that small brokers should partner with vendors to purchase technology, rather than spend time and money developing technology in-house.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
iPhone vs. Android: Smartphone Race Heats Up
The iPhone 4S, which debuted in October, launched with a big bang and to record-breaking sales, and it’s being credited with helping Apple narrow its gap against its chief rival, Google's Android.
The research firm Nielsen reports that more than half of shoppers who purchased a new smartphone last fall chose an Android phone. Yet, Android’s market share dropped by about 12 percent when the iPhone 4S made its debut.
“The numbers show the iPhone still holds appeal, even if it isn’t the fastest phone on the market,” an article at Forbes notes about the findings.
One of Apple’s main criticisms is that it doesn’t have a super-fast 4G LTE phone, like rival Android, which boasts the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a 4G LTE device. However, analysts expect Apple to release a 4G LTE iPhone later this year, as well as a faster iPhone 5 in the fall.
Analysts predict the sales gap between Apple and Android will narrow even more when Apple debuts its new products, according to the article. Still, Android boasts more types of smartphones than Apple, and Android manufacturers HTC and Samsung have helped Android stay on top by providing smartphone shoppers with greater selection and variety.
The smartphone race may even get tighter later this year, though, with the debut of the new Windows 4G LTE phone, which will likely put even more “market pressure on the two front-runners,” Forbes notes.
Source: “Apple Gains on Android with iPhone 4S,” Forbes (Jan. 19, 2012)
The research firm Nielsen reports that more than half of shoppers who purchased a new smartphone last fall chose an Android phone. Yet, Android’s market share dropped by about 12 percent when the iPhone 4S made its debut.
“The numbers show the iPhone still holds appeal, even if it isn’t the fastest phone on the market,” an article at Forbes notes about the findings.
One of Apple’s main criticisms is that it doesn’t have a super-fast 4G LTE phone, like rival Android, which boasts the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, a 4G LTE device. However, analysts expect Apple to release a 4G LTE iPhone later this year, as well as a faster iPhone 5 in the fall.
Analysts predict the sales gap between Apple and Android will narrow even more when Apple debuts its new products, according to the article. Still, Android boasts more types of smartphones than Apple, and Android manufacturers HTC and Samsung have helped Android stay on top by providing smartphone shoppers with greater selection and variety.
The smartphone race may even get tighter later this year, though, with the debut of the new Windows 4G LTE phone, which will likely put even more “market pressure on the two front-runners,” Forbes notes.
Source: “Apple Gains on Android with iPhone 4S,” Forbes (Jan. 19, 2012)
Friday, January 20, 2012
Group aims to standardize MLS terminology
With more than 900 multiple listing services across the country, data and terminology used to describe homes for sale can differ considerably. The most common differences center around how the number of bathrooms is counted, number of bedrooms, square footage, and even days on the market.
As such, one group is aiming to make the terminology on MLSs more consistent nationwide by introducing a Data Dictionary, which would create common vocabulary for fields used in the MLS that describe properties. The Real Estate Standards Organization is to meet in April to consider the adoption of a Data Dictionary. However, the group acknowledges it will be a challenge to unify all of the data fields directly related to MLS rules and among 900 MLSs.
Yet, the Data Dictionary aims to provide definitions for fields in MLS entries to help create more consistency in reporting.
“We have (more than) 900 MLSs (and they) all describe the data in a little bit different way,” Rebecca Jensen, chairperson for the RESO board and CEO for the UtahRealEstate.com MLS, told Inman News. “We just need a common way to describe it.”
For example, the Data Dictionary proposes breaking down the number of bathrooms into separate fields to bring about more consistency and clarity in reporting, such as with baths total; baths full; baths half; baths three-quarter; and baths one-quarter.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
As such, one group is aiming to make the terminology on MLSs more consistent nationwide by introducing a Data Dictionary, which would create common vocabulary for fields used in the MLS that describe properties. The Real Estate Standards Organization is to meet in April to consider the adoption of a Data Dictionary. However, the group acknowledges it will be a challenge to unify all of the data fields directly related to MLS rules and among 900 MLSs.
Yet, the Data Dictionary aims to provide definitions for fields in MLS entries to help create more consistency in reporting.
“We have (more than) 900 MLSs (and they) all describe the data in a little bit different way,” Rebecca Jensen, chairperson for the RESO board and CEO for the UtahRealEstate.com MLS, told Inman News. “We just need a common way to describe it.”
For example, the Data Dictionary proposes breaking down the number of bathrooms into separate fields to bring about more consistency and clarity in reporting, such as with baths total; baths full; baths half; baths three-quarter; and baths one-quarter.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Experts disagree on anti-piracy bills
Supporters and opponents of anti-piracy legislation stepped up their fight this week ahead of key votes in Congress next week that could dramatically alter the Internet.
The legislation – two similar bills pending in the House and Senate – would empower the Department of Justice and copyright holders to shut down websites that violate intellectual property or sell counterfeit goods. A range of U.S. businesses and their trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pharmaceutical and media companies and publishers, say it would lead to more jobs and revenues and promote consumer safety.
Opponents, including large and small Internet companies and First Amendment advocates, argue that it would stifle innovation and lead to censorship. Here are key issues to consider:
Q: What are SOPA and PIPA?
A: SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a House bill introduced in October that aims to expand the powers of U.S. attorneys general and copyright holders to crack down on websites that display or link to copyrighted intellectual property or counterfeit goods. The U.S. Senate has a similar bill pending, the Protect IP Act, called PIPA.
Any website that “engages in, enables or facilitates” copyright infringement could be placed on a list of websites that would be blocked by Internet service providers. Copyright holders could also ask the court to force online advertising companies to stop doing business with the allegedly infringing website, have payment processors cease financial transactions with the site or get search engines to stop listing such sites.
SOPA opponents also say that many provisions in the bills are vaguely written and that websites that display user-generated content are particularly vulnerable.
Q: How likely is it that the bills will pass?
A: The longer they stay in committees, the less likely the bills will pass. SOPA is still being debated in the House Judiciary Committee and will not be put up for a vote without a consensus. PIPA cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed a hold on it and said he will filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will try to override the filibuster with a procedural vote on Jan. 24.
Q: What type of websites would be most affected by SOPA?
A: SOPA proponents argue that the bill targets only foreign websites that are aimed at U.S. consumers and whose operations exist mostly to infringe on copyrights or sell illegal goods. “Your experience going to these domestic websites won’t change at all,” says Sandra Aistars, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, which supports the bill.
She says Facebook Russia, for example, would be exempt because it targets mostly Russians. EBay.co.uk also would not be subjected to it because its operation exists mainly to sell goods, not to engage in illegal activities, Aistars says.
That’s debatable, says Marvin Ammori, an intellectual property attorney who opposes the bill. The legal standard for determining whether a website with a foreign domain name targets U.S. consumers is unclear, he says. “Everything is U.S.-directed,” he says. The bill is also vague on the legal standard for determining if a website is “dedicated” to illegal activities, Ammori says. YouTube, for example, could be held liable if a handful of individuals upload illegal content, he says.
Q: How would my surfing change?
A: Obviously rogue sites, such as peer-to-peer music-sharing sites, would be “shut down” right away. You would not be able to access the site by typing its usual Web address. But that’s “not going to stop people who want infringing work. They’re going to find a way,” says Julie Samuels, a staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Some popular sites, such as Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube, will have to spend more to monitor possibly illegal content, says Leslie Harris, CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Small companies are more vulnerable because they lack resources to fight back, Samuels says.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Roger Yu
The legislation – two similar bills pending in the House and Senate – would empower the Department of Justice and copyright holders to shut down websites that violate intellectual property or sell counterfeit goods. A range of U.S. businesses and their trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pharmaceutical and media companies and publishers, say it would lead to more jobs and revenues and promote consumer safety.
Opponents, including large and small Internet companies and First Amendment advocates, argue that it would stifle innovation and lead to censorship. Here are key issues to consider:
Q: What are SOPA and PIPA?
A: SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a House bill introduced in October that aims to expand the powers of U.S. attorneys general and copyright holders to crack down on websites that display or link to copyrighted intellectual property or counterfeit goods. The U.S. Senate has a similar bill pending, the Protect IP Act, called PIPA.
Any website that “engages in, enables or facilitates” copyright infringement could be placed on a list of websites that would be blocked by Internet service providers. Copyright holders could also ask the court to force online advertising companies to stop doing business with the allegedly infringing website, have payment processors cease financial transactions with the site or get search engines to stop listing such sites.
SOPA opponents also say that many provisions in the bills are vaguely written and that websites that display user-generated content are particularly vulnerable.
Q: How likely is it that the bills will pass?
A: The longer they stay in committees, the less likely the bills will pass. SOPA is still being debated in the House Judiciary Committee and will not be put up for a vote without a consensus. PIPA cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed a hold on it and said he will filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will try to override the filibuster with a procedural vote on Jan. 24.
Q: What type of websites would be most affected by SOPA?
A: SOPA proponents argue that the bill targets only foreign websites that are aimed at U.S. consumers and whose operations exist mostly to infringe on copyrights or sell illegal goods. “Your experience going to these domestic websites won’t change at all,” says Sandra Aistars, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, which supports the bill.
She says Facebook Russia, for example, would be exempt because it targets mostly Russians. EBay.co.uk also would not be subjected to it because its operation exists mainly to sell goods, not to engage in illegal activities, Aistars says.
That’s debatable, says Marvin Ammori, an intellectual property attorney who opposes the bill. The legal standard for determining whether a website with a foreign domain name targets U.S. consumers is unclear, he says. “Everything is U.S.-directed,” he says. The bill is also vague on the legal standard for determining if a website is “dedicated” to illegal activities, Ammori says. YouTube, for example, could be held liable if a handful of individuals upload illegal content, he says.
Q: How would my surfing change?
A: Obviously rogue sites, such as peer-to-peer music-sharing sites, would be “shut down” right away. You would not be able to access the site by typing its usual Web address. But that’s “not going to stop people who want infringing work. They’re going to find a way,” says Julie Samuels, a staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Some popular sites, such as Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube, will have to spend more to monitor possibly illegal content, says Leslie Harris, CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Small companies are more vulnerable because they lack resources to fight back, Samuels says.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Roger Yu
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
New in town? Get a feel for a neighborhood with MapQuest Vibe
The race to provide targeted local tourist information has heated up with the introduction in October of MapQuest Vibe.
Gone are the days when MapQuest (owned by AOL) and Google Maps only pinpointed locations on interactive maps and distributed driving directions. They still perform these functions, but today they also traffic in searches of local attractions and services, and provide tourism information.
MapQuest’s new service is all about discovering neighborhoods, delving into their trendiest sections, and finding the top-ranked restaurants, shops and activities within their “hot spots.”
Introduced online in beta at mqvibe.mapquest.com and reinforced with a free iPhone app, MapQuest Vibe digs into 50,000 neighborhoods, 27,000 cities and 50,000 hot spots in the USA and publishes rankings of the top-rated neighborhoods and within them, the most popular restaurants and bars, retail outlets, activities, local services, lodging, spas and more.
MapQuest Vibe’s hot spots are popular areas of a neighborhood – often an intersection of a couple of streets – which have clusters of highly rated activities or venues.
For example, with its focus on breaking down a city into trendy areas and popular venues, MapQuest Vibe gives an editorially driven Vibe Score of a perfect 10 for the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., which designates it as the most highly touted neighborhood in the city.
But MapQuest Vibe goes a step further with its consumer-influenced Vibe Ranks of businesses and other attractions. For example, Vibe Ranks categorizes Filomena Ristorante and the Four Seasons as the top-rated restaurant and hotel, respectively, in the Georgetown hot spot of “31st west & Corcoran Alley west.”
As MapQuest Vibe evolves, Vibe Ranks’ assessments of local businesses will fluctuate based on whether users vote them up or down, as well as on MapQuest tallies of the number of users who search or get directions for those businesses.
At 3 months old, MapQuest Vibe doesn’t have the volume of content that the larger and more well-established Google Place Pages does.
Launched in 2009, Google Place Pages provides abundant information about local businesses and landmarks. There are 50 million Place Pages globally, and they can be found in Google local results on Google Maps, Google.com and Google Mobile.
How they compare:
MapQuest Vibe provides a more convenient and accessible way to research and get a feel for neighborhood points of interest on a popular block than does Google Place Pages. With MapQuest Vibe, “hot neighborhoods” are ranked by attributes such as walkability or edginess and are displayed on a single page. From there, it’s easy to focus on local hot spots and search for top-ranked bars, museums or hotels within them.
Google Place Pages, on the other hand, enables you to explore areas of a city, businesses, museums and parks through photos or listings. But it takes a lot more work, such as saving points of interest to a map, to figure out how they all relate to one another.
MapQuest Vibe falls short in the comprehensiveness of information about particular venues. For example, if you’re planning a vacation to New Orleans, you see that the University Uptown neighborhood is rated 9.7 out of 10. From there, you focus on the Audubon local hot spot and see that the Audubon Zoo is the top-rated activity among a few dozen ranked. But the information that MapQuest Vibe presents about the zoo is bare bones compared with the zoo’s Google Place Page.
MapQuest Vibe provides the zoo’s address, a small map, contact data, directions and a skeletal overview of the facility in six sentences from Citysearch. There are no photos, no anecdotes about what it’s like to visit and no user reviews.
In contrast, Google’s Place Page for the zoo enhances a not-very-enlightening description from Wikipedia with more than two dozen photos, an enlargeable map, 20 user reviews written for Google, and 144 other consumer reviews collected from TripAdvisor, Yahoo and TravelPod.
Google also serves up a list of Place Pages for related sites such as the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, 4.5 miles from the zoo.
Overall, MapQuest Vibe is a great concept, but it has a long way to go in executing its neighborhood vision.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Dennis Schaal, Special for USA TODAY.
Gone are the days when MapQuest (owned by AOL) and Google Maps only pinpointed locations on interactive maps and distributed driving directions. They still perform these functions, but today they also traffic in searches of local attractions and services, and provide tourism information.
MapQuest’s new service is all about discovering neighborhoods, delving into their trendiest sections, and finding the top-ranked restaurants, shops and activities within their “hot spots.”
Introduced online in beta at mqvibe.mapquest.com and reinforced with a free iPhone app, MapQuest Vibe digs into 50,000 neighborhoods, 27,000 cities and 50,000 hot spots in the USA and publishes rankings of the top-rated neighborhoods and within them, the most popular restaurants and bars, retail outlets, activities, local services, lodging, spas and more.
MapQuest Vibe’s hot spots are popular areas of a neighborhood – often an intersection of a couple of streets – which have clusters of highly rated activities or venues.
For example, with its focus on breaking down a city into trendy areas and popular venues, MapQuest Vibe gives an editorially driven Vibe Score of a perfect 10 for the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., which designates it as the most highly touted neighborhood in the city.
But MapQuest Vibe goes a step further with its consumer-influenced Vibe Ranks of businesses and other attractions. For example, Vibe Ranks categorizes Filomena Ristorante and the Four Seasons as the top-rated restaurant and hotel, respectively, in the Georgetown hot spot of “31st west & Corcoran Alley west.”
As MapQuest Vibe evolves, Vibe Ranks’ assessments of local businesses will fluctuate based on whether users vote them up or down, as well as on MapQuest tallies of the number of users who search or get directions for those businesses.
At 3 months old, MapQuest Vibe doesn’t have the volume of content that the larger and more well-established Google Place Pages does.
Launched in 2009, Google Place Pages provides abundant information about local businesses and landmarks. There are 50 million Place Pages globally, and they can be found in Google local results on Google Maps, Google.com and Google Mobile.
How they compare:
MapQuest Vibe provides a more convenient and accessible way to research and get a feel for neighborhood points of interest on a popular block than does Google Place Pages. With MapQuest Vibe, “hot neighborhoods” are ranked by attributes such as walkability or edginess and are displayed on a single page. From there, it’s easy to focus on local hot spots and search for top-ranked bars, museums or hotels within them.
Google Place Pages, on the other hand, enables you to explore areas of a city, businesses, museums and parks through photos or listings. But it takes a lot more work, such as saving points of interest to a map, to figure out how they all relate to one another.
MapQuest Vibe falls short in the comprehensiveness of information about particular venues. For example, if you’re planning a vacation to New Orleans, you see that the University Uptown neighborhood is rated 9.7 out of 10. From there, you focus on the Audubon local hot spot and see that the Audubon Zoo is the top-rated activity among a few dozen ranked. But the information that MapQuest Vibe presents about the zoo is bare bones compared with the zoo’s Google Place Page.
MapQuest Vibe provides the zoo’s address, a small map, contact data, directions and a skeletal overview of the facility in six sentences from Citysearch. There are no photos, no anecdotes about what it’s like to visit and no user reviews.
In contrast, Google’s Place Page for the zoo enhances a not-very-enlightening description from Wikipedia with more than two dozen photos, an enlargeable map, 20 user reviews written for Google, and 144 other consumer reviews collected from TripAdvisor, Yahoo and TravelPod.
Google also serves up a list of Place Pages for related sites such as the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, 4.5 miles from the zoo.
Overall, MapQuest Vibe is a great concept, but it has a long way to go in executing its neighborhood vision.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Dennis Schaal, Special for USA TODAY.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Serving a military market niche
Following the withdrawal of all active duty U.S. military from Iraq, many service personnel are returning to their lives in Florida and throughout the nation – and a Realtor often can help them navigate some of the unique challenges they face.
“Realtors that understand military issues will get this market and be able to better serve those who served us,” said Buddy West, a Delaware Realtor who discussed how to meet the challenges facing the military when it comes to real estate transactions during Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings in Orlando last Friday.
From dealing with upside-down mortgages to helping a serviceman or woman find a first home, working with veterans presents unique circumstances for a Realtor. When West began working with military personnel years ago, he found a market niche that truly appreciated a Realtor who took the time to understand its needs.
West asked, “Why should Realtors – particularly in Florida where you have military all over the place – care about this market? No. 1, it’s underserved. They need our expertise and help; and, it’s one of the few growth areas in the housing market right now.”
How big is the military market? While the numbers vary greatly from survey to survey, according to veteran statistics presented by West, there currently are 22.3 million veterans: 1,445,000 active military, 833,000 reservists and 1,325,000 families connected with the military. West cited statistics sourced from NPR or National Public Radio.
Florida has the second largest per capita veteran population in the nation, he said.
Key to working with the military is getting to know them and understanding who they are, their circumstances and their needs, West said. Volunteering is a good way to begin. For example, he often hosts a mixer for military families and outside sponsors help cover the costs of the event.
“I believe it’s OK to do well, but you have to do good,” West said. “And working with the military, helping those who have served us – that’s the ‘do good’ part.”
Source: Florida Realtors®
“Realtors that understand military issues will get this market and be able to better serve those who served us,” said Buddy West, a Delaware Realtor who discussed how to meet the challenges facing the military when it comes to real estate transactions during Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings in Orlando last Friday.
From dealing with upside-down mortgages to helping a serviceman or woman find a first home, working with veterans presents unique circumstances for a Realtor. When West began working with military personnel years ago, he found a market niche that truly appreciated a Realtor who took the time to understand its needs.
West asked, “Why should Realtors – particularly in Florida where you have military all over the place – care about this market? No. 1, it’s underserved. They need our expertise and help; and, it’s one of the few growth areas in the housing market right now.”
How big is the military market? While the numbers vary greatly from survey to survey, according to veteran statistics presented by West, there currently are 22.3 million veterans: 1,445,000 active military, 833,000 reservists and 1,325,000 families connected with the military. West cited statistics sourced from NPR or National Public Radio.
Florida has the second largest per capita veteran population in the nation, he said.
Key to working with the military is getting to know them and understanding who they are, their circumstances and their needs, West said. Volunteering is a good way to begin. For example, he often hosts a mixer for military families and outside sponsors help cover the costs of the event.
“I believe it’s OK to do well, but you have to do good,” West said. “And working with the military, helping those who have served us – that’s the ‘do good’ part.”
Source: Florida Realtors®
Friday, January 13, 2012
Realtor.com to Launch Free Mobile Listing Sites
More buyers and sellers are accessing listings on their mobile devices, so Realtor.com is debuting a new tool to help real estate professionals improve the mobile viewing experience.
Realtor.com will soon launch a tool that will allow real estate professionals to build a Web site featuring a single property that is optimized for a mobile device, Inman News reports. The tool will be free, and is set to debut in two weeks.
Realtor.com president Errol Samuelson announced the Mobile Listing Site Builder tool at Real Estate Connect in New York City this week. He said that using the tool a mobile site for a listing can be created in two steps: Choose your MLS and type in your MLS ID and then choose the online listing. The mobile Web site will then be automatically generated, featuring listing data and photos. Agents will also get a URL to the mobile site, which they can include on fliers or embed on a QR (Quick Response) code.
To get more information about the tool, visit Realtor.com and click on “Mobile Listing Builder.”
Source: “Realtor.com to Offer Free Mobile Listing Sites,” Inman News (Jan. 12, 2012)
Realtor.com will soon launch a tool that will allow real estate professionals to build a Web site featuring a single property that is optimized for a mobile device, Inman News reports. The tool will be free, and is set to debut in two weeks.
Realtor.com president Errol Samuelson announced the Mobile Listing Site Builder tool at Real Estate Connect in New York City this week. He said that using the tool a mobile site for a listing can be created in two steps: Choose your MLS and type in your MLS ID and then choose the online listing. The mobile Web site will then be automatically generated, featuring listing data and photos. Agents will also get a URL to the mobile site, which they can include on fliers or embed on a QR (Quick Response) code.
To get more information about the tool, visit Realtor.com and click on “Mobile Listing Builder.”
Source: “Realtor.com to Offer Free Mobile Listing Sites,” Inman News (Jan. 12, 2012)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Florida Realtors PAC gets makeover
Florida Realtors® renamed its political action committee to more accurately reflect its location and influence: Florida Realtors PAC.
The 2012 campaign also features a new logo (view it here) and a new slogan: Invest In Your Profession.
“Florida Realtors PAC has never been more important,” says Florida Realtors Senior Vice President of Public Policy John Sebree. “While we encourage Realtors to give throughout the year, we have major challenges in 2012. The ‘Yes on 4’ campaign will take time and money as we work to explain the advantage of the constitutional amendment to 60 percent of Florida voters.”
The “Yes on 4” campaign refers to a proposed amendment to the state constitution, Amendment 4, that will appear on the November ballot. If passed, Amendment 4 will create a property tax increase cap of 5 percent each year on non-homestead real estate, down from the current 10 percent cap. It will also give some first-time homebuyers a property tax break that decreases over time.
“In short, passage of Amendment 4 will make homeownership obtainable for more people in Florida – and increase business for all Realtors,” says Sebree. “But it will take a major commitment from everyone to work for its passage and to financially support our efforts through Florida Realtors PAC.”
The new logo adapts Florida Realtors’ logo by surrounding it with stars and adding the colors of America – red, white and blue. Every member who donates to Florida Realtors PAC will receive a logo lapel pin. It can be seen on floridarealtors.org.
The new Florida Realtors PAC also features a new “I Give Because …” campaign. In separate videos posted on floridarealtors.org, members will explain why they invest in Florida Realtors PAC and why they personally think it’s important. Current National Association of Realtors® President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, for example, is featured in one video. Veissi praises Florida Realtors PAC for its role in stopping a proposed sales tax on services – a tax that would have lowered the income of every Realtor in the state – during his year serving as Florida Realtors president.
“Many times, we work hard to pass legislation or an amendment,” says Sebree. “But at other times, Florida Realtors PAC deserves praise for the issues that don’t pass because it took a stand against changes that would impact every Realtors business, whether it be a sales tax on services, a cut to Florida’s affordable housing trust funds, or a new doc stamp tax.”
For more information or to donate to Florida Realtors PAC, visit the floridarealtors.org website.
Source: Florida Realtors®
The 2012 campaign also features a new logo (view it here) and a new slogan: Invest In Your Profession.
“Florida Realtors PAC has never been more important,” says Florida Realtors Senior Vice President of Public Policy John Sebree. “While we encourage Realtors to give throughout the year, we have major challenges in 2012. The ‘Yes on 4’ campaign will take time and money as we work to explain the advantage of the constitutional amendment to 60 percent of Florida voters.”
The “Yes on 4” campaign refers to a proposed amendment to the state constitution, Amendment 4, that will appear on the November ballot. If passed, Amendment 4 will create a property tax increase cap of 5 percent each year on non-homestead real estate, down from the current 10 percent cap. It will also give some first-time homebuyers a property tax break that decreases over time.
“In short, passage of Amendment 4 will make homeownership obtainable for more people in Florida – and increase business for all Realtors,” says Sebree. “But it will take a major commitment from everyone to work for its passage and to financially support our efforts through Florida Realtors PAC.”
The new logo adapts Florida Realtors’ logo by surrounding it with stars and adding the colors of America – red, white and blue. Every member who donates to Florida Realtors PAC will receive a logo lapel pin. It can be seen on floridarealtors.org.
The new Florida Realtors PAC also features a new “I Give Because …” campaign. In separate videos posted on floridarealtors.org, members will explain why they invest in Florida Realtors PAC and why they personally think it’s important. Current National Association of Realtors® President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, for example, is featured in one video. Veissi praises Florida Realtors PAC for its role in stopping a proposed sales tax on services – a tax that would have lowered the income of every Realtor in the state – during his year serving as Florida Realtors president.
“Many times, we work hard to pass legislation or an amendment,” says Sebree. “But at other times, Florida Realtors PAC deserves praise for the issues that don’t pass because it took a stand against changes that would impact every Realtors business, whether it be a sales tax on services, a cut to Florida’s affordable housing trust funds, or a new doc stamp tax.”
For more information or to donate to Florida Realtors PAC, visit the floridarealtors.org website.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tablet computer makers slash prices
Tablet computer makers, scrambling to get attention in the highly competitive market, are turning to a time-tested tactic: slashing prices.
Research In Motion has cut the price of its 64-gigabyte BlackBerry PlayBook tablets by $100 to $299, a deal that will last until February. The 16-GB Sony Tablet S tablet sells for $399, down $100 and lower than the 16-GB Apple iPad 2, which starts at $499. And Verizon Wireless shaved $50 off the Motorola Droid Xyboard for customers who sign up for a two-year data plan.
A gradual decline in prices is inevitable for consumer electronics makers. But the recent downward pressure on tablet pricing also reflects a broader volatility in the market that has been turned upside down by the arrival of cheaper, snazzier models. And some manufacturers may be looking – or forced – to get out of the business.
A decline in tablet prices will continue throughout the year, analysts predict. Reasons:
Market correction. Some tablets just weren’t well made and need to be discontinued, says Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis. “If you have an uncompetitive product, you’re going to have to take it out and move the inventory. And one way to do that is to lower price,” he says.
RIM warned in a recent earnings statement that its tablet sales have slowed, and analysts speculate that the company could be looking to get out of the business. “You don’t cut the price (that much) to create market share. You do that to exit the market,” Greengart says.
Flawed pricing strategy. Many tablets are simply overpriced, says Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. Apple can afford to charge $499 for an entry-level iPad given the large app market and the brand appeal. But other manufacturers should be more realistic, Entner says. “BlackBerry and Sony have cut their price point from ridiculous to mildly amusing.”
Cheaper, well-known rivals. Amazon and Barnes & Noble – makers of the $199 Kindle Fire and $249 Nook Tablet, respectively – are selling their devices at or below cost because they view them as convenient platforms on which to sell content, a claim that other low-cost tablet makers can’t make, Entner says.
Software upgrade. Manufacturers want to shed inventory ahead of software upgrades that will render current products stale. RIM is expected to update PlayBook’s operating system next month. Android’s latest software is just being adopted. And analysts expect new tablets based on Microsoft Windows 8, due out later this year.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Roger Yu.
Research In Motion has cut the price of its 64-gigabyte BlackBerry PlayBook tablets by $100 to $299, a deal that will last until February. The 16-GB Sony Tablet S tablet sells for $399, down $100 and lower than the 16-GB Apple iPad 2, which starts at $499. And Verizon Wireless shaved $50 off the Motorola Droid Xyboard for customers who sign up for a two-year data plan.
A gradual decline in prices is inevitable for consumer electronics makers. But the recent downward pressure on tablet pricing also reflects a broader volatility in the market that has been turned upside down by the arrival of cheaper, snazzier models. And some manufacturers may be looking – or forced – to get out of the business.
A decline in tablet prices will continue throughout the year, analysts predict. Reasons:
Market correction. Some tablets just weren’t well made and need to be discontinued, says Avi Greengart, analyst at Current Analysis. “If you have an uncompetitive product, you’re going to have to take it out and move the inventory. And one way to do that is to lower price,” he says.
RIM warned in a recent earnings statement that its tablet sales have slowed, and analysts speculate that the company could be looking to get out of the business. “You don’t cut the price (that much) to create market share. You do that to exit the market,” Greengart says.
Flawed pricing strategy. Many tablets are simply overpriced, says Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. Apple can afford to charge $499 for an entry-level iPad given the large app market and the brand appeal. But other manufacturers should be more realistic, Entner says. “BlackBerry and Sony have cut their price point from ridiculous to mildly amusing.”
Cheaper, well-known rivals. Amazon and Barnes & Noble – makers of the $199 Kindle Fire and $249 Nook Tablet, respectively – are selling their devices at or below cost because they view them as convenient platforms on which to sell content, a claim that other low-cost tablet makers can’t make, Entner says.
Software upgrade. Manufacturers want to shed inventory ahead of software upgrades that will render current products stale. RIM is expected to update PlayBook’s operating system next month. Android’s latest software is just being adopted. And analysts expect new tablets based on Microsoft Windows 8, due out later this year.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Roger Yu.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Top 10 real estate websites in November
Experian Hitwise, a web metrics firm, released its November rankings for real estate websites’ popularity, and Yahoo Real Estate held the top spot in for the fifth consecutive month, despite a slight drop in visits to 7.02 percent from 7.9 percent in October.
Rounding out the top five: Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and MSN Real Estate. AOL Real Estate held steady in the No. 6 spot, while Homes.com fell to No. 7. The rest of the top 10 sites are Rent.com, ZipRealty and MyNew Place.
The top 10 realty websites account for almost 39 percent of traffic to real estate sites during the month, whereas the next 10 most popular sites – including LoopNet and Redfin – attracted only 9.4 percent of traffic.
Hitwise reports a two-second drop in the amount of time visitors spent on real estate websites last month to 8 minutes, 53 seconds. The most popular search terms were “zillow” and “realtor.com,” accounting for more than 1 percent of search clicks each.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Rounding out the top five: Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and MSN Real Estate. AOL Real Estate held steady in the No. 6 spot, while Homes.com fell to No. 7. The rest of the top 10 sites are Rent.com, ZipRealty and MyNew Place.
The top 10 realty websites account for almost 39 percent of traffic to real estate sites during the month, whereas the next 10 most popular sites – including LoopNet and Redfin – attracted only 9.4 percent of traffic.
Hitwise reports a two-second drop in the amount of time visitors spent on real estate websites last month to 8 minutes, 53 seconds. The most popular search terms were “zillow” and “realtor.com,” accounting for more than 1 percent of search clicks each.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
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