Arthur Richards has written a Drupal plugin for RETS! This allows you to create a website that has listing information taken directly from the MLS. You can find it with other Drupal plug-ins.
Here is a clip of what Arthur posted on the VieleRETS mailing list about the plug-in:
I could use a lot of help testing this, and if anyone knows
PHP/MySQL/has experience working with Drupal modules, please help make
this better and get it to a point of stability!
Let me know if you're interested at all in testing/coding.
There has been talk about RETS as a Wordpress plug-in too!
I have installed a package called DD-WRT on by consumer grade Linksys WRT350N router. DD-WRT gives me professional grade options that the manufacturer does not offer and utilizes the hardware to its maximum. This fusion of Professional software and Consumer equipment makes my network setup prosumer.
DD-WRT is a good approach if you have a small office, have staff hooked up via wireless and don’t want to waste money. I just followed installation instructions on their wiki and things went smoothly. There is a step that might make you uneasy though; you have replace the manufacturer’s firmware in order to get DD-WRT functionality. As long as you don’t stop this two minute process in the middle it should work for you too. Although I am using a different model than the one in the instructions, everything went as expected.
This short list does not do DD-WRT justice, but here is what I like most about DD-WRT:
- Linux (but of course)
- Static Addresses
- DHCP Server
- MAC Address cloning
- NAT
- Graphical Bandwidth Reports (eye candy, true, but useful too)
- OpenVPN
- SSH Access (yep, you can log into the router! Can you say NMAP?)
- Access Policy (lock the kids down except for certain times)
But there is so much more.
DD-WRT is available for many routers in addition to Linksys. I was surprised to see DD-WRT installed routers for sale on EBay! If you have an old router laying around, or if you pick up one on the Internet, give DD-WRT a try. It I didn’t have the WRT350N, I would have used the much cheaper WRT54GL. You should read the compatibility list before purchasing to make sure the device is supported though.
My primary desktop is Linux, so I’m an OpenOffice user. At home, I run NeoOffice on the Mac. You can just imaging that special feeling I had when I started seeing e-mail attachments with file extensions like .docx, .pptx and .xlsx! These new XML-based file formats are associated with Microsoft Office 2007 and do not (yet) work with OpenOffice or NeoOffice.
I used a free on-line service called Zamzar to convert the Office files to the more familiar .ods (spreadsheet), .odp (presentation) and .odt (word processing) formats. It worked perfectly. Submit you file and you will be notified via e-mail when it is ready to pick up the converted form.
Save the Internet
I was turned on to this video by Doug Whitehouse, a member of the NAR Business Issues Committee. I liked the production, use of medium and of course, the cause. This is one of my favorite committees and I’m not really bult for committee work
NAR has been active on technology issues like this, on behalf of members, through the Government Affairs division.
NAR has no affiliation with the group behind this video, I just thought it was educational.
Update: You can also find it on YouTube
Just a link to an article that made me think about how the business may change over the next couple of years.
When I speak about business models, I present those that are known and already in the field. One of the questions I get asked is “How will the business models change in the future?”. Putting my finger on how the next generation of REALTORS will engage had been difficult. I recently came to the “collaboration” thought and have been using it on the road for a couple of months. This article gave a reason to believe I should continue these thoughts.
Although microtrends are characterized as having Personas, they can also be used in a good way. Personas should be used to model Culture 1.0 and Culture 2.0 users because they have nothing to do with the Real Estate model being used by the software user.
OK, this sounds clumsy so far. Here is an example of what I mean. Note that persona is used in two different contexts:
Persona #1 - Culture 1.0
Campaign marketing tool that sends out messages and tries to categorize responses into one of 4 pre-planned sub-campaigns. Typically these are built with “tree logic” (if response #5 is ‘yes’ then ….). Each sub-campaign is designed to meet the needs of a “persona”.
Persona #2 - Culture 2.0
Organic marketing tool that uses content to attract attention, then tries to determine the intention of the consumer. Intention is another word for collaboration in this context.
I wanted to share a tale of customer support that I think all of you will appreciate because all of us support someone. Let me start with a little background first.
At work, there is a support group that takes care of my hardware and from the software perspective, I support myself. At home it is a different situation, I have built four of my computers (I have a sound studio and a train layout) except for one that is a shiny new iMac. OK, I forgot my son at college who has a MacBook Pro. My experience with support is the kind that involves returning failed components for replacement. I did have one experience with a major printer manufacturer that became frustrating and time consuming. This and other experiences (friends and families) is how I formed my low opinion of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) support. Now on with my tale.
Continue reading ‘How do you measure support?’
I was handed an article called The See-Through CEO today and I realized two things. First, my reading is falling behind; shame on me for being behind on Wired magazine. The second thing that struck me was how effective the web can be regarding image.
The article uses the phrase “reputation management system” as a way to think about the Internet and corporate management. I believe that most of the Real Estate industry primarily views blogging as a Lead Generation mechanism. This is because of the impact blogs have on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I think Clive Thompson did a nice job explaining how the same SEO effect can be used for corporate messaging purposes.
The same transparency that improves corporate reputations are also why some consumers trust rough cut, “YouTube” style home tours. There is something about the “amatuerish” (OK, I’ll say it, non-professional) quality of some web content that some people translate into genuine and sincere glimpses into the author’s personality.
This means that grammar and spelling are still important because the rough cut vs. professional video comparison does not directly translate to text. Consumers just want more than well crafted spin. Being transparent means letting consumers understand a bit more about what is behind corporate decisions; a glimpse into the thought process and factors that were considered.
This is a short post but I thought the community might be interested.
If MLS issues are your thing, you should checkout the new blog sponsored by FBS. The tag line of the blog is “Conversations about the MLS industry, creating software, and employee ownership.”.
Their first post, “Death of the MLS?” is a great start.
I may be a legal layperson, but I thought patents were supposed to be new, useful and nonobvious. A growing problem in our industry is not patents themselves, but how they are issued. Patents are submitted to the Patent Office (PTO), reviewed and then issued. If you have an issue with the legitimacy of the patent, you hire a lawyer and go to court.
When applying for a patent, you are supposed list other work that preceded your idea. The people using the identified items are considered to have prior art and the PTO determines whether the new idea is novel using these submissions.
The weakness in the system is determining whether a submission is obvious or not. Examining the issue in the context of software is difficult and many believe the PTO does not have the capabilitiy to make these judgements. The issue has been kicking around for a while, and had made its way to Congress again.
This week a hearing was held on the topic of patent reform. In his opening remarks, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) said:
If the patent system allows questionable patents to issue and does not provide adequate safeguards against patent abuses, the system will stifle innovation and interfere with competitive market forces.
This hearing is exploring the idea of providing a period, after review, for the community to comment on the submission before the patent is issued. This approach would allow for more information to be collected that in turn would be used to determine whether a submission was obvious. The community would be used to help the PTO make the determination before the patent is granted.
Continue reading ‘It Looks Obvious to Me’
I have been away from the blog for a while now due to a personal intellectual battle. It is the kind of thinking that tears you up; lots of "what ifs" and assumption challenging.
Most REALTORS® working with the web wrestle with a problem called Lead Management. They ask themselves "What can I do to improve the number of eyeballs on my site?". To many, this means implementing an intricate (even complex) array of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and E-Mail campaigns to attract attention to their site. These elements even show up in the relatively new blog strategies.
Continue reading ‘Radically re-thinking “Lead Management”’
