The Spotlight is on!

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on June 30, 2009
in General
. 0 Comments

REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award | Promote Your Page Too
REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award

During the 2008 NAR Convention and Expo, CRT announced that in 2009 we will launch a new technology award initiative focused at leading edge REALTORS and/or their support staff whom make them shine in the field. Outside of recognizing these industry innovators, this award is also intended to show other members and their IT staff what others are doing, and get them thinking of creative ways to make technology work for them.

We are happy to announce, that nominations are now being accepted for the first annual Center For REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award. Do you know one of these digital pioneers? Is it the quiet agent sitting in the back corner of your office, that just networks like no ones business online? Or is it the IT Director that either sits with the lights off only to have the monitro reflecting off his focused face? If you do, please take a moment and nominate them.

Recipients will be announced during the 2009 NAR Conference and Expo in San Diego. There will be a reception, so keep your eyes open for the announcement of that can’t miss event where these individuals will be recognized and honored.

If you would like to help spread the word about the CRT REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award – you can join and ’share’ this page from your Facebook account or copy/paste the code below into your blog/website. Thanks for helping to spread the word – and start nominating!

REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award

REALTOR Technology Spotlight Award | Promote Your Page Too

2009 REALTORS® Technology Survey

Published
by
Ana Schmitz
on June 5, 2009
in General
. 2 Comments

survey-saysIt’s time for the annual REALTORS® Technology Survey.  Please take a few minutes to participate and feel free to pass it on to other REALTORS®.

The survey will remain open through Friday, June 19, 2009.  A drawing will be held among survey respondents.  One grand prize:  a netbook.  Three other prizes:  A copy of the book, Groundswell:  Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

CRT looks forward to learning about your technology usage & needs!  In early August 2009, you can expect to see a blog post of the results.  Thanks for your time!

A Case for Simple Two Factor Authentication

Published
by
Andrew Tillman
on June 4, 2009
in Internet, MLS, Projects, Security and Tools
. 11 Comments

two-factor-authChris and I have recently been talking about how to more easily provide two-factor authentication to MLS and association websites.  For those that don’t know what two-factor authentication is,  Wikipedia gives an indepth overview.  But simply put, two factor auth is when you use 2 factors instead of 1 when verifing someones identity in a computer system.  Instead the 1 factor of a username and password, which is a factor of something the user knows, you add another like an RSA SecurID, something the person has, or a fingerprint reader, something the user is.  But for the MLS, not every computer has a fingerprint reader and RSA SecurID is very expensive.  What Chris and I can to the conclusion was that almost every REALTOR® has a cell phone.  Using something like SMS we could leverage the cellphone as something people have.  I looked around and found that the idea is not new (not surprised) and that many banks use it for large online transfers (over $2500).

The idea we came up with was a proxy server that sat between the users of a web-app and the web-app itself, that provided two factor authentication.  This white paper goes into detail about the problem and the porxy server solution while this diagram (a larger version of the image above) give the basic idea we are looking at.  The user would still be presented with a login page, but after successful login they would be presented with a token entry page.  At the same time the token they need to enter would be sent to their cell phone as a text message.  The user enters in the token and they are on their way.  In this solution, the proxy only stores the usernames and the mobile numbers of those users, not the password, that factor of authentication is still handled by the protected website.  That is the basic idea.

Pros: The proxy server requires very little changes on the backing website.  It would be designed so that it could be plopped in front of pretty much any website.  It would be very inexpensive and we would want to make it open source, so people change the two-factor proxy if they need to add addition features.

Cons: The security of the SMS channel would need to be taken into account, and if there is a delay in the token SMS message arriving, that means the user is sitting there waiting for their text message before they can do anything.

We are looking for comments in this idea, and wonder if anyone would want to use this proxy if we were to create it.  Take a look at the white paper and diagram and let us know what you think.

A Camping we will go

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on June 1, 2009
in General
. 2 Comments

[REPOSTED CRT SPRING NEWSLETTER]

camp-fire

How better to gain insight, knowledge and understanding about what technology trends are affecting the Real Estate Industry than to meet with peers that are all submerged in the same situation as you?  Well, the non-Real Estate Technology world has been been hosting such events since 2005, affectionately known as ‘BarCamps‘.

Although,  if they were really camping trips, that would make for some really engaging times, they are however, more organized as unconferences; (a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose).

REBarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees.  Obviously they are filling a need, as the momentum is definitely building, with at least 9 more REBarCamps scheduled throughout the rest of 2009. 

Explaining what goes on at the REBarCamps is a little difficult, because everything and anything can happen.  It is really just a meeting of the minds where current topics and trends are discussed.  Where the first time participant or the knowledge-hungry attendee will walk away with their head in a daze of all the information they’ve gathered and the contacts they’ve made.

CRT and the National Association of REALTORS have been an active participant in these events since the first one in San Francisco in August 2008.  Going forward, The National Assoication of REALTORS has also teamed up with REBarCamp to start planning one tentatively scheduled the day prior to NAR Annual in San Diego.  I almost also forgot about the upcoming Chicago event on June 15th!!

Along with the upcoming August 4th REBarCamp during the next Inman Conference, a similar geek driven event is taking place. Inman ConnectTech will give CTO’s, developers, entrepreneurs and product managers an opportunity to explore innovation in a program tailored to geeks, not marketers.  The Center for REALTOR Technology is excited to be a sponsor and participant of this event, and would love to take that opportunity to learn more about your technology needs and roadblocks.

WolframAlpha is live

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 18, 2009
in General
. 1 Comment

wolfram-alpha
I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard about WolframAlpha. It’s not something the general media has been following and seems it would be aimed at researchers and other highfalutin scientist types but it’s a tool that everyone can and will use. What makes it exciting is that although technically it’s a web search tool it’s much more, it’s also a computational knowledge engine.

A computation knowledge engine is a program that will accept queries then compute an answer, not just generate a list of websites that might have the information you’re looking for. The Wolfram Alpha algorithms (more than 50,000 of them) use a combination of licensed and free data sources to compute answers. These data sources combined equal approximately 10 trillion different pieces of data. Pretty cool.
Continue reading ‘WolframAlpha is live’

Social Media Labs from DC – Thursday, 5/13

Published
by
Ana Schmitz
on May 16, 2009
in General
. 0 Comments

As promised, you can access the Thursday social media lab sessions that took place during the REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings.

Interested in seeing the presentation slides?  Facebook  and e-Book.    David Shumaker had two hand-outs:  10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know by Nick O’Neill; and 20 Facebook Deskotp Apps to Try by Don Reisinger.

The following are the  recorded Thursday social media sessions.

  • Will You Be My Friend on Facebook?    
    Presenter David Shumaker with NAR’s Information Central.  Duration:  approx. 30 mins.
  • Twitter:  Increases Your Sphere of Influence. 
    Presenter Todd Carpenter NAR’s Social Media Manager. Duration:  approx. 30 mins.
  • Using Social Media to Promote Your Business & Social Media in Practice   
    REALTOR® Presenters:  Heather Elias and Daniel Rothamel   Duration:  approx.  60 mins.  
    Note: This is Wednesday’s session…the Thursday session has disappeared from our files.

    • Thanks to all of our presenters and to you for attending/watching!

    Computerman’s Creed

    Published
    by
    Chris McKeever
    on May 15, 2009
    in General
    . 1 Comment

    1happy_computer_man_sm_mno0

    Mr. Computer, oh how we rely on you. And when we take them for granted, they get jealous, and bite us in the back when we least expect it – its true they have feelings just like we do. How often have you booted your machine with fingers crossed hoping that it will ‘work this time’? For something that is a vital part of life (banking, communication, work, fun, play) – why do we sometimes neglect them so? They are an extension of us, we need to treat them as such.

    Where did all this come from? Well, during MidYear – in the Blogger’s Lounge – as we are talking with members, we always meet people that are pulling their hair out with a computer issue. Helping our members understand one of their most vital possessions is just one of the pieces of the CRT missions – on top of being awesome – or does that help us with awesome?

    During a presentation that I was involved with last week in Atlanta, one of the panelists started talking about ‘The Rifleman’s Creed’. Because of the issues this week, the underlying meaning of that just seemed to make sense for one of our most beloved and relied upon possessions – our computer.

    So why isn’t there are computers users creed? Or why haven’t I been informed – so here is my word smithing attempt at least.

    The Computerman’s Creed

    This is my computer. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My computer is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My computer, without me, is useless. Without my computer, I am useless. I must boot my computer true. I must think quicker than any hacker who is trying to game me. I must remove them before they infect me. I will....

    My computer and myself know that what counts in this digital universe is not the sites we visit, the noise of our posts, nor the emails we send. We know that it is the hits and link-backs that count. We will link...

    My computer is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its keys and its screen. I will keep my computer clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

    Business Tech Forum – MidYear 2009

    Published
    by
    Chris McKeever
    on May 14, 2009
    in General
    . 3 Comments

    OMG!! A great turn-out for the Business Tech Forum!!! Presentations by:

    - Todd Carpenter
    - Bob Hale
    - Richard Mendenhall
    - James Kimmons
    - Shannon Williams-King

    View The Presentation

    Special Thanks to Chair George Stephens, Vice-Chair (and Videographer) Daniel Rothamel, and Technology Committee Liason Doug Ayers

    Social Media Labs from DC – Wednesday, 5/13

    Published
    by
    Ana Schmitz
    on May 13, 2009
    in General
    . 0 Comments

    The 2009 REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, DC, are in full swing.  In case  you were unable to join us…below are a few Wednesday, 5/13/09  Social Media Lab video streams you may want to check out.   These took place in the bloggers’ lounge at the Omni Shoreham  in the Forum Room.

    In case you’re in DC and want to join us for another round of social media lab, you can find us in the Omni’s Forum room on Thursday at 12:30pm ET for Will You Be My Friend on Facebook?  ;  1:00pm ET Twitter- Increase Your Sphere of Influence; 1:30pm ET Using Social Media to Promote Your Business & Social Media in Practice.   Where?  In the Bloggers’ Lounge at the Omni in the Forum Room.  

    Oh, and while you are at the Omni – why not drop by the REALTOR® 2.0:  Driving Business Using Today’s Technology (Business Information & Technology Information Systems Forum; 3pm-5pm; Omni’s Empire Room on the Lower Level. )

    Special Thanks to our presenters who took the time to join us and share their knowledge on social media.

    Stay tuned for a Thursday, 5/14/09, recap which will include David Shumaker’s Facebook & e-Book powerpoint slides.

    Twitter Trending

    Published
    by
    Andrew Tillman
    on April 29, 2009
    in General, Internet and Tools
    . 1 Comment

    twitter_trend Ever since I started using Twitter, I have been interested in the kind of information that you can glean from the mass of tweets people make to it every day. Given the growing number of Twitter users, this can be a great source of all kinds of information.  Companies are using Twitter information to learn in real time what people think of their products, as reported this NY Times article.  There are many tools out there that can take Twitter data and turn it into valuable information you can use, an example being TweetStats.  TweetStats gives basic trending information about Twitter, what are the hottest topics now, as well as trending information about a specific  Twitter feed.  Another, more humorous analyzer is Cursebird, which tracks the use of swearing on Twitter, and can give a given Twitter user a cursing score from 0 (Lame) to 100  (George Carlin Wannabe).

    Twitter’s search is a good place to start if you want to start tracking Twitter trends yourself.  Just type in the search terms you wish to track and a results page will appear.  Using a hash(#) tag can help your searches be even more targeted.  For instance, if you want to see what people are saying about Swine Flu, just search for ‘#swineflu’ and watch the tweets roll in and see just how panicked, or calm, people are right now.

    Another great tool is TweetDeck, a multiplatform Twitter client.  Not only is it a great Twitter client for posting and reading the people you follow,  it also allows you to create tabs based in Twitter searches, so you can see the results of several searches at once.

    As more and more people start digging into Twitter data, and as more and more people use Twitter, we will see some great tools make use of that data.  For instance, you could have a tool that tracks how people feel about the housing market in a given geographic area, or people’s reaction to a given news announcement over time.  The best killer app for Twitter trending is likely something we haven’t even thought of yet.

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