Fun Environmental Gadgets

LINK TO SOLAR RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

Even though they’re still in the prototype stage and not terribly efficient at this point, I still think these solar powered rechargeable batteries are a brilliant idea. Designed by Knut Karlsen, the SunCats are basically a set of old NiMH rechargeable batteries wrapped in a flexible Photo Voltaic cell created by the Institute for Energy Technology. When the batteries are drained, you simply leave them sitting in a windowsill or anywhere with ample sunlight and they’ll recharge themselves.

LINK PHILIPS EVERLASTING LIGHTBULB

Philips’ Master LED bulb has the same form factor as the old-fashioned kind, making it “simple for people to use and feel good about using.” The bulb draws just 7 watts but gives off light equivalent to 40 watts’ worth, and lasts 45,000 hours, as opposed to the 1,500 of its incandescent predecessors. Already available in Europe, the Master LED should make its way to North American shores sometime before July.

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Web Tools I cannot live without as a online realtor

1) Xobni for Outlook.  Best thing I have ever downloaded and that says a lot.

2) Google Reader – my top 5 blogs right now would be -
OfficeSearchToronto.com (I know, tsk tsk)
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Gizmodo and Engadget
Lifehacker
blogTO
Mashable

3) My social networks – LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (In that order)

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4) Picpick – free screen capture software.  I use this almost every post.

5) Animoto + YouTube – although there’s another player in town you should check out – Mashuparts.com -

eg – http://tinyurl.com/174animoto

6) Issuu – the website I use to publish most of my listings – like this.

7) Google analytics – on it every day

8)  Feedburner – lets me track who is following this blog by RSS feed.

Do you have any suggestions to add?  Lets have some comments and suggestions on this one!

Productivity Online and Website Tools

This website will help you and your team stay focused on the task at hand.

Why ProjectThingy? Because keeping project related communication and information in one place is vital for the success of your projects. It keeps your team and clients connected and up to date. So no time is wasted looking for current documents or tracking down communication spread out across multiple channels.

Eyes Relax is a little free Windows utility that reminds you about rest-time and save your eyesight. This software allows you to customize the duration of your work time and length of breaks. During the break you may exercise your eyes, look away or look at distant objects either in your office or outside, take a stroll outside your office.

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Real Estate Gadget Day

Can you believe they can now fit 2 Terabytes on a SD Card?  My guess is another 3 years and it’ll surpass DVD / Blue Rays… what do you think?

I need a new set of earphones, the ones that came with my bold are frustrating.  These look pretty good.

What’s going to be here first?  The touch screen or the new 3d monitors (click here for the video)?

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Internet and Cool Downloads

A great list of top free software downloads from Life Hacker. I use Firefox 3, CCleaner, AVG Anti-Virus, Quick Media Converter and Dropbox (my fav)!

Get Vista Features in XP!

How to RIP DVD’s.

Alternatives to crappy windows software.  I use FoxIt Reader, Meebo, Firefox, CD Burner XP, AVG, and VLC.

Here are LifeHackers best posts of 2008.

Very Cool Gadgets

Giant Curved Monitor – pretty cool but very expensive at $6,499

Dick Tracey Cell Phone Watch

10 of the worlds most comfortable office chairs

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Some other guys Top 5 Favorite Real Estate TOOLS

Some very cool tools.  I haven’t used all of them yet… SnagIt has been great.
I haven’t tried 2 or 3 yet but I plan on it.

LInk

#1 SnagIt – Screen Capturing Software:

One of my favorite things to do is make stuff. I like to put together tutorials and promotional materials for potential buyers and sellers. The one tool that makes my life a million times easier is Snag-It Screen Capturing Software (by TechSmith). With SnagIt I am able to grab screen shots from anywhere – online or off-line, edit them and save them for future use.

Cost: It has a FREE TRIAL or you can purchase it for a one-time cost of $49.95

#2 Xpert CMA – CMA Building Product

Finding a good CMA product has been a difficult mission for use since we started real estate back in 2001. Most ones that we have tried are either complete brain-damage to set up and/or do not offer all the elements that we are looking for. And usually it costs too much for too little.

We finally found Xpert CMA. It is a customizable program that uploads and formats your MLS data in a clear, precise and easy-to-understand way. The product is very easy to set up, and the tutorials, video support nad phone support are awesome. We also like the philosophies behind the software itself … It is designed to help your potential seller clients REALLY understand value and HOW recent SOLDS and ACTIVES play a part in determining price.

… and it is always a hit at our listing appointments.

Cost: $200 for a lifetime licence that can be installed on each of your computers at no additional charge

Real Estate Contract Tools

#3 CTM eContracts – Paperless Contracts

Ever since we started using eContracts, I just want to hurl myself off a mountain top whenever I get a hand-written offer (which isn’t good, seeing as I am surrounded by 14,000+ feet-above-sea-level mountains with very high peaks ...).

eContracts manage your dates and contacts, and update real-time for all parties involved. You can sign ALL the PPW online (although most signatures look like they were drawn by an ameture Etch-A-Sketch artist …) or, as an agent, you can upload a nicer version of your signature. (Unless you are Derek, in which case the Etch-A-Sketch version would be an upgrade…)

I can email the contracts to all parites involved: Buyers, Sellers, Agents, my Office, Title Company, Lenders … ALL with a simple click of a mouse.

Cost: We paid about $100 for the whole year, but I think prices vary depending on which office/state/board that you are affilliated with.

#4 eFax -Convenient Fax-to-Email Solution

I have saved a small rainforest by switching to eFax. AND? I don’t have to listen to that annoying fax-screetch anymore. eFax is a office solution that gives you a unique toll-free number that people can fax stuff to. From there, it converts it to a .PDF and sends it to your email as an attachment.

How I use eFax:

• Fax all loose ppw and notes from contracts to myself and store them on my computer
• Initiate the paperless process in all contracts by using “forward” in my email instead of fax and re-fax and re-fax and re-fax of all contracts, offers and disclosures. At least MY end of the process will be more Green.
• I fax everything to myself that I want to store virtually – to include kid’s report cards, letters, etc. I use it in place of a scanner in some cases.

This is an awesome tool. One of my favorite.

Cost: Somewhere between $14-$20 a month depending on volume

Real Estate Everything Tool

#5 Primo PDF – PDF Converter/Creator

I use this for everything. No one seems to have the same version of Word/Excel/Publisher/etc. as I do, and therefore cannot open half the documents that I like to send out (reports, flyers, marketing reports, tutorials …). When I send out something via email, non-PDF attachements are always so bulky, too.

Converting everything (or almost everything) into a .PDF is the answer for ALL my email woes (well, except for figuring out how to stop winning the European Lottery … I really should be a Gillionaire by now…) And Primo PDF is easy to install and use. It works just like a printer.

Cost: FREE (with some paid upgrades, if you wanted…)

Now, I have a lot of OTHER great tools that I use in my business, like Real Estate Shows (for listing shows), Jott (for “turning my words into action“) and Picnik (for editing and plying with pictures), but we all KNOW about those tools, right?

Gadgets I want

The Coolest Flashlight Award – no that cool to look at but a 90 second charge for 23.5 hrs of life

Minefield by Mozilla

I’m in love. With a browser.

Nope, it’s not Firefox, and not Safari, though I’ve had flings with both in the past. Not Camino, not even Chrome.

My new thing is with Minefield, from Mozilla. Okay, so Minefield is essentially an early build of the next version of Firefox. But the latest version has a drastically improved Javascript engine under the hood. Is it fast? Let me tell you – it’s crazy fast. In fact, Ars Technica is reporting that Minefield is 10% faster than Google Chrome.

Faster than Chrome, available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and oh – it supports your Firefox add-ins, as long as you’re willing to force compatibility using Nightly Tester Tools. Minefield is an alpha release, so it’s likely to still be buggy. So far I’ve been lucky though; all of the add-ins that I’ve activated have worked fine right out of the gate.

Let me guess, you’re in love now too, eh? Well, there’s more than enough Minefield to go around. Go get some. Minefield, that is.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

Print2pdf Adds Advanced PDF Conversion to Windows

Perfect for sending offers, brokers letters and the like.

by Kevin Purdy

Windows only: Free PDF conversion tool Print2PDF isn’t as click-and-go friendly as a tool like doPDF, but it does offer a serious amount of control over the looks, permissions, and security of your PDFs. Like other PDF apps, Print2PDF installs itself as a printer, but after you hit “Print,” you can add watermarks, passwords, change the read/edit/print permissions, add attachments and auto-email, manually change the compression levels, and do much more. Print2PDF also integrates itself directly into Microsoft Word, Excelt, and Internet Explorer, and supports encryption for sensitive documents. It’s probably more than the average home user needs, but office workers may find its options seriously handy. Print2PDF is a free download for Windows systems only.

Link

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