In the 90s, when I was in the process of learning Unix as well as learning to be a better programmer, you couldn’t go wrong with any title published by O’Reilly. There were a smaller organization than they are now and almost everything I read by them was a great source of knowledge. If a book by them was on a topic I was interested in, I would just buy it without reading any reviews or thumbing through it. As they’ve gotten bigger I’ve found that not every title is up to the quality I associated with the name O’Reilly. Not to say they still don’t have some excellent books I still turn too. (I’d still turn to the perl books if I haven’t given up perl for health and sanity reasons.)
Lately, I’ve been reading books from another publishing house that reminds me of O’Reilly of old: The Pragmatic Programmers. In fact, they are now the new wearers of the "instant buy" crown.
I read their first book, The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master, in late 2000 and it was an eye opener for me, especially for such a small book. It validated many practices and "rules" I already followed without being explicitly introduced to them, and gave me a few more I should have been following. It instantly become one of my favorite books on programming and one that I often loan out or recommend.
Continue reading ‘Are you a pragmatic programmer?’
Part of CRT’s mission is research. We use surveys as one form to conduct research. We’ve just completed our 2006 MLS Technology Survey. The survey reveals some interesting findings about MLSs as dynamics of the industry continue to evolve. They include:
- interest in expanding market regions for MLSs
- more data sharing agreements between MLSs
- concern about MLS information security and unauthorized MLS access and use
- a strong desire for data integration
- MLS sponsored public websites continue to lose popularity.
Also today we published our latest CRT Report. The newsletter is another example CRT’s mission: information. Its one of our main vehicles for communicating with Brokers and AEs. This edition features stories on new business models, digital identity, best practices and a new CRT app: PolicyPage .
And now I digress. Writing and developing the CRT Report creates some interesting dynamics where, as a tech group, we sometimes struggle. We use a senior editor from REALTOR Magazine, Mariwyn Evans, to polish the newsletter. She does a great job and makes it easier for the audience to understand our work. That’s the dynamic, we’re so close to subject that we don’t understand why someone might not understand it. CRT wants to recognize Mariwyn’s contribution - we’re certain the newsletter readers appreciate it.
One of the reasons I’m happy to be a part of CRT is the fact that we get to use and create open-source/free software. This has been something I’ve gone out of my way to do in my career. Its been an interesting ride doing this in real estate, especially as part of NAR.
Anyway, when I see others using open-source in real estate, it really sticks out in my mind and is still surprising to me. So, not only was I surprised to read about Professional Mortgage Partner using open source in a REALTOR®-serving side business, but I was surprised that they are in our backyard and we didn’t even know it.
The article An open source virtual office for realtors by Tina Gasperson, posted on NewsForge today, talks about PMP’s "side business helping realtors set up office portals and inexpensively access the Multiple Listing Service database through the use of open source software."
Matt Lavallee, PMP/Technology’s manager of Web services, says the VOWs he installs for his clients are "price point killers." Other companies license VOWs and charge anywhere from $3,600 to $11,000 per year to access Oracle databases holding listing information, but PMP’s service goes for $400 a year because it uses the MySQL database.
MySQL is good for the realtors and good for PMP because it costs less money on both sides. "It’s very fast and it’s been very solid," Lavallee says. "Another provider that went out of business in October had a $2.5 million Oracle back end. There is no way to recoup that cost doing individual sites. You’d have to capture every single [realtor] and keep them subscribed for five years just to pay it off."
There is more to the article, but I snagged the choice parts. I recommend reading the whole thing.
To whom it may concern,
It is far easier to stand on the sidelines and point out faults than it is to contribute.
I have more respect for those who offer their expertise, in the spirit of community, then those who spread misinformation. I am not going to stoop to low-level tactics like making personal attacks or spewing defamatory rhetoric. This is your game. I never call other peoples work a "sham" or based on "fraud" because I believe in the free exchange of ideas. We are just trying to help and nothing CRT does is motivated by "politics". What does "politics" mean anyway?
I understand that taking a contrary positions is a viable way to perpetuate business because there will always be alternative markets. I’m a big believer in the free market model and appreciate that not everyone will take the same paths. If it perpetuates your business, feel free to launch more attacks. Maybe your business prospects will see it as unprofessional. The attacks bother us (naturally) but do not distract us from continuing the CRT mission, so you are wasting your time.
If you have read this letter and have no idea what I am talking about, I apologize for wasting your time. On the other hand, if the content hits home, then I wish you would contribute to the industry in a more positive manner.
Sincerely,
Mark Lesswing speaking for staff of CRT a division of NAR
I saw this on the Inman blog and you just have to check it out. It pushes the envelope with respect to using new, creative approaches to reaching the net community. Take and moment and click through to her page.
Go Phyllis!
Have you ever been involved in the process of setting technical standards? The pace of progress is glacial at times. The Real Estate Transaction Standard (RETS) is no different. Months go by with very little action.
This month has been different for RETS though. In preparation for the next meeting , the mailing list traffic (especially rets-dev) and committee conference calls have been more active than at any time in recent memory. So what is driving this? In my opinion it is the enthusiasm for RETS 2.0, an industry effort to fix some deficiencies in RETS 1.X. Most of the traffic over the last week has been focused on the query language that will be used in RETS 2.0. I encourage you to read the mailing list traffic and develop informed opinions. My feeling are that the language should be as familiar as possible so that queries is easier to write.
RETS support by the MLS is now over somewhere near 50%. The RETS Standards group published a survey last fall that showed the numbers at 46%. Our own survey (to be published later this month) shows the number to be marginally higher than that. Now that RETS is available, the next trend should be for Members to begin using RETS enabled tools. I would like to qualify these numbers a bit though because they are a pessimistic way to look at the situation. Most regional MLS support RETS so the percentage of listings available in the format are actually higher.
A logical question to ask is "Why aren’t people using RETS then?". This is a fair question. I believe in its current form, it is too hard to implement and to use.
I’m sure many of you are aware of those in the community who throw "bombs" at RETS. In many cases I agree with their criticisms. This is why I contribute to the RETS effort. I want to improve the situation for all. On the other hand, the same people offering criticism are not part of the process to improve RETS. The best thing you can do for the industry is to get involved.
I noticed that the choices we will have for providing maps of listings for consumers is about to be expanded. The MapQuest folks have announced support for an Application Programming Interface (API) for some pretty nifty capabilities including routing.
When I have some time to play with the API, I’ll post usage notes on the blog as I did with the Google and Yahoo APIs.
PolicyPage - a new application from the Center for REALTOR® Technology is now available as a general release. I think this is what many in the MLS community have been waiting for. I would like to thank those who tested during its beta release and those who suggested enhancements and improvements. We continue to add new tests and features so keep your ideas coming. A particular tip ‘o the hat to Mark Flavin at Bay East Association of REALTORS for his contributions.
PolicyPage is an MLS display policy compliance tool. PolicyPage is licensed under an open-source license.
PolicyPage reads MLS member websites and compares them to MLS rules (defined in PolicyPage.) It notifies the MLS and optionally the member when tests are failed. PolicyPage releases continue to deliver new rules that allow checking NAR’s IDX model display rules and that can be customized for local needs.
The 1.0 enhancements include:
- Ability to review Web sites in an offline mode
- Ability to review graphics
- A much simplified installation using a Wizard
We continue to look to the MLS community to guide future development priorities. We invite and welcome your input. PolicyPage comments (and bugs) can be posted to the project mail list.
You can download PolicyPage application by visiting the project site.
