Beating The Heat

Laptops, like most other machines, can overheat, causing your legs to get burned, the table, or worse.

Most people don’t stop to think about it but if you’ve ever placed a hand under it while it’s been running, you know what I mean.

The heat can cause your laptop to slow, crash and have performance and battery issues.

The best solution is to buy a lap top fan. These are external fans that you sit under the laptop and are plugged in by USB. Most of them are fairly  inexpensive (but the cost is worth it!) and it doubles as a lap desk.

Targus, Belkin and Antec are fairly good brands for the money. The Targus “Chill Mat” is very light-weight.

The fans start at around $30 but often go on sale at stores like Walmart, Best Buy and Staples.

A great investment to preserve the life of your laptop.

By Jessica Lynne Gardner

TWITTER– What Everyone Is Tweeting About

 With over 5 million users and a sign up rate of 5-10 Thousand users daily, Twitter may be on to something. As a social networking site, Twitter promises to help you connect with business and personal contacts, market your brand, website and business, share pictures, links, personal bio etc. What makes it different is the way this is done and the other benefits that other sites don’t have. The site prompts you to “tweet” which simply means that you are telling others “what you’re doing right now”. Inside the tweets you can post links, pictures, text and more, attracting others to your latest news and providing more traffic! Another plus to Twitter is that you can keep track of your clients by adding or looking them up and can see all their latest tweets and updates. View our company Tweeter Presence here: www.tweeter.com/JessicaPR

Go here http://www.mytechopinion.com/twitter-for-real-estate-twits  to download a free E-book that explains the site in detail from how to join to statistics and everything in between.

The Power of virtual tours

  

The Power of virtual tours

 Virtual tours are the hot new topic among home buyers. As technology increases to new heights, a more professional, in-depth and artistic approach is needed to attract buyers.

 

Why the emphasis on VT’s?

We already know that shoppers of every type of market are turning their attentions online– what this means is that they are actively comparing products and services. Since home buying is considered one of the largest sales in many people’s lives, buyers want the best product and service in half the time. Agents are already jumping on the Virtual Tour band-wagon and reaping the benefits so the properties that don’t have one might be skipped over in the initial home-search quest.

  Professional VS Do-It-Yourself

 Professional virtual tours can really make an impact as the technology used is often high definition and high resolution and includes lots of added

extras which allows the videos to be easily sent to others and even downloaded into a DVD format. They are also usually automatically syndicated, getting you more attention from web surfers!

For those that have a good camera and a reasonable knowledge of the internet, Do-It-Yourself tour videos are a great and affordable option. You can just record the footage and then upload to your website, Youtube and blogs!

 

SPYWARE:Keep Yourself From Prying Eyes

 

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user’s interaction with the computer, without the user’s informed consent. (Wikipedia)

 

In short, spyware is a way for hackers to steal your identity and even control your computer! It slows down the performance of your computer with unseen processes and pop-up ads and is rarely alone, often sharing with your computer with other viruses.

 

Protecting your PC from spyware and malware is extremely important in order to safeguard your files and personal information and to extend the life of your computer.

 

Ad-Aware is an anti-spyware program developed by Lavasoft that detects and removes spyware or adware on a user’s computer. It also detects other malware, including dialers, Trojans, viruses, bots, rootkits, data miners aggressive advertising, parasites, browser hijackers and tracking components.

 

Anti-Spyware Programs

Free programs can be installed to counter Spyware such as Ad-Aware SE by Lavasoft and ZoneAlarm which is also a firewall.

 

These programs can help prevent the Spyware infection and also find and remove the Spyware that’s already in your computer by doing scans either on a weekly, daily or monthly basis to remove Spyware installs that happen right away.

 

Security Practices

For the technology savvy, there are a few ways to decrease the chances of PC infection:

 

1. Switch your browser from Internet Explorer to a more

     secure, basic type like Mozilla Firefox or Opera. Internet

     Explorer is more widely used in the US and attracts

     more hackers than the other two.

Bonzi Buddy, ErrorGuard, Kazaa, Weatherbug, WildTangent,           

    Morpheus and RadLight are just some of the Spyware

    websites to avoid. 

 

2. Block websites known for Spyware in your Firewall and

     web proxies. If you know for sure you got a virus or spy 

     ware from a site, block it! You should see this option in  

     your anti-virus or firewall’s settings.

 

Terminology:

Freeware-Free software available for anyone to download.

Spyware-Software installed to spy on and control another user’s PC.

Adware-A type of spyware that displays pop-up ads.

Malware-Software (viruses) designed to damage a PC.

Firewall–A collection of security measures to prevent unauthorized access to your PC.

Antivirus-Programs made to find, neutralize or eliminate malicious software.

 

Turn holiday events into referrals!

 

The Holidays are a great time to network. You’ll be attending parties, sending Christmas cards, and visiting family and friends. Whether it’s a quiet family get together or happy hour with your buddies, remember to talk about what you do. Tell them how well you’re doing and how much you love your job. You may be surprised to find that the same people you’ve known for years never thought of referring you to others! When you hear people talking about the negative aspects of the market be sure to detail how well discounters of all types are doing like Wal-Mart, Costco and of course, Advance Realty!

 

· Write or type your website address on Christmas cards sent to family, clients and friends.

· Carry business cards (and a pen!) everywhere– always put some in your pocket or purse.

· Use AGENT 360 ECARDS!!! The cards are bright and cheery and perfect  for open houses, Holidays or a simple ‘hello’. You can also get statistics on every time someone clicks on the listing.

· Write timely thank you notes for invitations, assistance, introductions, referrals and advice.

· Accept invitations from friends and family to attend their functions to expand your sphere of influence.