Technology Tools for Real Estate

Recently, Gawker Media, host of several popular websites, revealed that hackers had breached its servers and exposed the passwords of thousands of people who have commented on Gawker sites.

Gawker’s security breach is a reminder that our passwords need to be strong and we need to use different ones on important websites to protect our most sensitive information. But who can keep up with all those of passwords?

One solution is to use a password manager. Most current browsers and operating systems have some kind of password management function. For example, Windows 7 has Credential Manager, Mac OSX has Keychain, and the Firefox and Chrome browsers both have a Password Manager. These can get you started, but keep in mind that they work by encrypting your passwords and storing them on your computer. If you lose your computer or you need to log in from another location, computer-based managers such as these won’t be of much help.

Another option is a software/smartphone app combination. One that works well is mSecure. Purchase and install the mSecure software on your Windows or Mac computer for $14.95 and store your passwords, your credit card information, your kids’ social security numbers or any other sensitive data in an encrypted file on your computer. Then purchase the iPhone app for $4.99 and wirelessly sync your sensitive data to your smartphone. Then, when you’re at your computer and you need a password or other important data, you can look it up using the mSecure software on your computer. When you’re away from your computer, you can access the same information via the app on your phone.

SplashID works in a similar way and offers apps not just for iPhones, but for Android, Blackberry, Windows OS phones and others. Purchase the desktop software for $19.99 and the smartphone software for $9.99.

Still another kind of password manager stores your password data in the cloud. LastPass is one such product. It can store passwords as well as sensitive documents, and it works with most popular browsers and operating systems. Download and install the free browser extension. Then, as you surf the Net and enter passwords, LastPass remembers them. The next time you use your computer, log into LastPass and it will automatically fill in your passwords when you visit your favorite sites. LastPass can be installed on each of your computers so you can have access to your passwords wherever you happen to be working. And mobile versions of the software allow you to access your passwords while you’re on the go.

We’ve only scratched the surface here; there are dozens of other password managers. With so many good products to choose from, there’s no excuse for not using strong, unique passwords on every site you visit.

Let’s say the name you selected for yourself on Twitter just isn’t right.

Maybe you selected it without thinking. Or maybe you’ve changed your focus and you want a Twitter handle that more accurately reflects the direction your business is going. Or maybe you just didn’t understand how Twitter worked when you first started using it. In any event, it’s easy to change your Twitter name and you can do it without losing any of your followers.

Log on to your Twitter account and click on “Settings” at the top right.
Type the new username you want to use. Twitter will confirm that your choice is available. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save” to keep your new choice. All of your tweets, followers, and settings will go with you to the new name.
To minimize confusion, it’s probably a good idea not to change your image right away. Use your old image with your new name until people catch on to the change.
It’s also probably a good idea to recapture your old name and use it to announce your new name. So, log out of your new Twitter account. Log back in to Twitter as if you were a brand new user and create a new account using the name you just discarded. (Yes, Twitter will let you do that). Use the bio to direct visitors to your new account. Send out a series of tweets under your old name redirecting people to your new name, something like: “I’ve got a new name and a new attitude. Find me at @SaunWashington.”
Be sure to change the links on your website and update your account information on affiliated sites like TweetDeck or Hootsuite

And that’s it. You’re good to go.

For many years, the experts have talked about the possibility of the paperless office. Few industries generate as much paper as real estate, so it’s logical to question whether it’s even possible for a real estate office to be paperless.

Certainly the technology exists and a small but growing number of businesses are considering how it might be done. But real estate brokerages have their own special hurdles.

Agent Savvy. First and foremost, the agents in the office would have to be comfortable getting rid of the paper and working only with digital documents. They would need the computer skills, for example, to use whatever document management system the brokerage instituted. And where such systems are not hard to use, there are many real estate professionals who still struggle with basic computer skills.

Others’ Tech Skills. To get the deal closed, agents must work with many other parties. The clients, attorneys, inspectors and mortgage people involved would all have to be comfortable working without paper. Otherwise the advantage would be lost: hardcopies might still have to be printed out and hand delivered to non-digital savvy parties. Hardcopy documents received from them would have to be scanned back into the paperless system. The time and energy involved in all of this might undermine the ideal of working without paper.

The Paperless Closing. Then there’s the closing. All the parties may be on board with an electronic sales contract, but can all of the closing documents be signed electronically? For example, does the HUD-1 statement or the mortgage note have to have a “live” signature? Does the recorder of deeds in your jurisdiction have the ability to accept electronic documents? Does the title company have the technology to conduct a closing without paper?

Without a doubt, this will come together some day so that all the parties will be able to work with digital documents. Until that day, however, it’s likely be challenging for any one real estate brokerage to go completely paperless.

What are your views? Do you know of any paperless real estate offices? Have you participated in a paperless closing?

Real estate professional who market homes on the Internet should ideally have photos of the property taken and prepared for the Internet by a professional. That’s because there’s so much to know about the staging, lighting, and composition required to make a home look appealing in a photograph. There’s also a lot to know about digital images and how to prepare them for the Web.

For example, there are many possible file formats for digital images. Do you know the difference?

The best file format for an image depends on how the image will be used. Images that will be printed in a prospectus or other publication require a high resolution—200-300 pixels per inch (ppi). But images viewed over the Internet look just fine with a lower resolution (e.g., 72 ppi). In addition, the file size on Internet images needs to be low so the picture can download quickly when someone clicks on the page.

Here’s a primer on the four file formats you need to know about.

GIF works best if the image contains a limited number of colors—if it’s, say, a floorplan or a logo with just 2 or 3 solid blocks of color. GIF images are compressed to make them smaller for the Internet, but the compression used in GIFs limits the available colors.
JPEG is better for photographs and other images that contain many colors. The compression used to create a JPEG removes some of the pixels in the image, thereby allowing it to load quickly on the Internet, but retains the large number of colors.
PNG is probably the best format for photographs on the Web because it compresses images efficiently like a GIF, but it shows a wide range of colors like a JPEG. But because it’s a newer file format some browsers, particularly older ones, can’t show PNG images. Therefore, it’s not yet widely used.
TIFF files are sometimes not compressed at all, which means they can be quite large. However, they provide the best quality image. They also contain the digital information designers need to be able to expand or shrink them without distortion or loss of detail. If the image is being used to prepare a print publication, it should be created as a TIFF. But TIFFs shouldn’t be used on the Internet because they’re too big, they download too slowly, and because many browsers can’t show them at all.

How Much RAM Do I Have?

computers Tagged with: memory, RAM

Nov 042010

When you get ready to install new software on your computer, it’s important to review the system requirements for the software and to compare them with the resources your computer has available.

One resource you have to pay attention to is RAM, which stands for random access memory. Computer programs need memory in order to run; the more RAM you have, the more smoothly your software will operate. Here’s how to find out how much RAM your computer has.

If your computer is running on Windows XP, follow these steps.

Click the Start button.
Go to Control Panel.
Click System.

You’ll get a screen that displays several key aspects of your computer system, including how much memory you have.

If your computer is running on Window 7, do the following:

Click the Start button.
Right click on Computer in the right column.
Select Properties.

Again, you’ll get a screen that lets you view basic information about your computer. Toward the bottom of the screen, you’ll see information on how much RAM is available.

It’s also easy to find this information on the Mac. Click the Apple Menu and select About this Computer. You’ll get a nice little window that summarizes your system information.