Archive for the 'Ask a Tech' Category

Office 2007 Compatible?

Published
by
Mark Lesswing
on May 4, 2008
in Ask a Tech, Gadgets, Interviews and Tools
. 2 Comments

zamzar_logoMy 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.

Online Advertising vNext.0hhhhh!

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on September 19, 2007
in Ask a Tech, Gadgets, Internet, Projects and Tools
. 9 Comments

gadget.jpgThe talk of the blogoshpere today is Google Gadget Ads. Google has been quietly rolling out a new advertising platform for the last few months. They are taking their gadgets and adwords and mashing them together. What you get is interactive, data rich ads whose main limitation is the creativity of the campaign creator. These ads can be HTML, Flash, Javascript or a combination, all of which can access real-time data feeds, images, video, and other content. So what could this mean for the Real Estate ad market?

Continue reading ‘Online Advertising vNext.0hhhhh!’

Deep Links - May 25, 2007

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on May 25, 2007
in Articles, Ask a Tech, Blogroll, Gadgets, Internet, MLS, Projects, Reviews and Tools
. 1 Comment

Ian’s Deep Link’n

Keith’s Deep Link’n

Andrew’s Deep Link’n

Chris’ Deep Link’n

Deep Links May-17-2007

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on May 17, 2007
in Articles, Ask a Tech, Gadgets, Internet, Projects, Reviews and Tools
. 1 Comment

Keith’s Deep Link’n

Plotr is a lightweight charting framework that allows you to create bar, line, and pie charts using just a few lines of JavaScript code inside plain HTML files.
http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/05/04/1457210
http://solutoire.com/plotr/

CSharp syntax and formatting mode for emacs
http://mfgames.com/linux/csharp-mode

A good thread from Joel on Software on where to get an SMS number. Looks prohibitively expensive in the US.

Joe Gross’s procmail tutorial.
http://www.stimpy.net/procmail/tutorial/

I’m thinking about getting this Ogio backpack as a new laptop backpack. Anyone have any experience with them? I’m having a hard time finding one in a store to check out.
http://www.ogio.com/product.php?product=128

Chris’ Deep Link’n

Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using the rsync algorithm
http://duplicity.nongnu.org/

Broker Website of the Future!

$100 Dollar Laptop Project First Shipments! I want one!
http://olpc.tv/category/children/

622 RSS Feeds over Coffee! I thought I was bad!

Software License Tracker

SMS 101: Understand the Power.

Unlimited Yahoo! Mail Storage: About time!

25 Hours in a day coming soon.

Meebo Launches Chat Rooms for IM service.

Gordon’s Deep Link’n

Who is Gordon? - Gordon is the Technical Project Lead from The Greater Vancouver Board

CREA Commercials - a h00t!

Your Maps are My Maps Too

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on May 1, 2007
in Ask a Tech, Gadgets, General, Internet, Projects and Tools
. 4 Comments

Last Saturday, Chad Curry from NAR Government Affairs and his wife, Julia, organized and hosted an art exhibit to raise funds and awareness for the conflict in the Sudan. They enlisted local Chicago neighborhood businesses to help sponsor and support their event. To highlight the participating establishments, Chad stumbled upon a new(ish) feature of Google Maps, My Maps.

Once he plotted all the points of interest, he showed it to the local Chamber of Commerce. Their reaction was one of awe as to how easy and useful something like this could be. I think the real kicker came when he told them that it was free!

So what exactly is My Maps? Well, the embedded map shows a bare bones overview of what Chad made.

Continue reading ‘Your Maps are My Maps Too’

Images From The Index

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on April 13, 2007
in Ask a Tech, Gadgets, Internet, MLS and Projects
. 5 Comments

A while back, I made a little Gadget to deliver a rotating image from the Google Image Index. It is semi-popular, usually from those that just need a little distraction while couped up in cubicle world.

Continue reading ‘Images From The Index’

Momma Said Knock You Out

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on January 31, 2007
in Ask a Tech, Projects, Reviews and Tools
. 2 Comments

Microsoft’s new operating system in close to 5 years has finally arrived! If you felt a tiny bit of sarcasm in there, you probably aren’t that far off. Vista, or as those in the know called it ‘Longhorn’, hit the shelves yesterday - or for those die hards at 12:01 Monday Night (or is that Tuesday Morning, I never can tell - I usually just say the next day starts when I wake up).

I really do not have much to say about Vista, I haven’t used it, let alone seen it in action. I do usually follow two commandments when upgrading any piece of software.

  • Is it really needed for the cost, and can my machine even handle it
  • For Operating Systems: WFTFSP

So what is WFTFSP. It is simply ‘Wait for the first Service Pack’. Why pioneer? Although, it seems that Mr. Gates has caught onto this golden rule, so they are already preparing a service pack.

Let me reiterate, if a service pack is already in the works - why not wait? I’d wait anyway even if it wasn’t already planned. This waiting period will give you time to see others trials and tribulations, and get a feel if it is even needed, and more importantly, if your computer will handle it. The last thing you want to do is force yourself into a hardware upgrade by buying software you didn’t really need.

Enjoy, and keep those pot handles turned in!

Update: Maybe this Decision Flowchart will help.

Peripheral Marketing

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on January 25, 2007
in Ask a Tech, Internet and Tools
. 0 Comments

A recent conversation about online marketing with Mark stirred up a continuing discussion that I had in a previous life while at Prudential - Chicago. This same topic also got thrown around during one of the breakout sessions at the Executive Luncheon of the New Castle Board, which I attended yesterday.

Before I begin, keep this tucked in the back of your mind; When is the last time you really saw that ad at the top of your web-based email and it caused a call-to-action for you?

In my strong, yet humble, opinion, I feel that by the time a consumer gets to a place that they can search for properties (classifieds, aggregator, portal, etc) the opportunity for effective marketing has diminished. Simply because they have already found a place to search. Unless your marketing piece can prove to them that your search is better, they are going to stay where they landed. They are in search mode, probably not ‘pick an agent’ mode, Yet. Also, lets face it - the general internet user has almost grown numb to banner ads on a site, especially when they have already deemed a site to meet their current needs (flashback: web-email question), in this case searching for properties.

Mark made a metaphor that you can hang your hat on (paraphrased due to RAM allocation), ‘That would be like driving down REALTOR® Row and being faced with a dozen agents jumping up and down to get your attention.’ There is no tell-tale way to stand out at that point, its sensory overload created by a large amount of energy (budget) expenditure. So, if that isn’t the most efficitve place to advertise, where does one advertise?

Continue reading ‘Peripheral Marketing’

Escape From The Snow Globe

Published
by
Chris McKeever
on October 17, 2006
in Announcements, Ask a Tech and Projects
. 0 Comments

Escape From New YorkOne's perspective is vastly different looking into a snow globe as opposed to if we were living in the globe looking out. Unfortuntely, in the realm of CRT, we are often found looking into the snow globe and seeing a wonderful world of listings, agents, technology, harmony and bliss. In other words, we don't always appreciate the depth, balance and concerns that the industry faces in the trenches.

To gauge the industry from a technological perspective, we are going to open our inboxes up for questions, comments, insights and stories. We have created AskATech@crt.realtors.org. Dependant on the traffic, we will try to answer questions and provide comment, but more importantly, we will use this feedback to help push the CRT Blog in a 'Dear Abby' fashion.

No question is too small, and hopefully no question is too hard. gulp! So please feel free to start sending in your technology related questions, we are looking forward to hearing from you.

Why was I talking snow, I probably just jinxed Chicago for a brutal weather - Snake is going to be mad.