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Top Real Estate Software

31. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Software

It is currently a tough time for realtors. The poor economy has left its mark on the industry. The amount of buyers looking for homes has gone down drastically. Therefore real estate professionals need to use every resource at their fingertips. This includes real-estate broker software a tool that is of great help to professionals out there. So what are their options?

Top Producer is a major player in the real estate software marketplace. Its designed as a way to stay in touch with clients and referrals, via a multitude of ways including social media. It gives a series of reference points relating to contacts and immediate insights into their neighborhoods. They also have different versions to meet the differing needs of realtors.

A La Mode bill themselves as the leader in real estate technology. They offer agents a way to build their brands including web pages, and email marketing. They offer different tools for top producers and those running brokerages. They also have programs available for appraisers, mortgage professionals, and home inspectors. According to their website 50% of all transactions go through their servers.

Broker Office HQ is a real-estate broker software program offered by Emphasys a company involved in many types of business software. This software is available in different packages each with a variety of different features. This software is available via a monthly subscription. This is not the most extensive software but the price is right.

Birdview Technologies produces a website suite for real estate professionals with tools for Lead Generation, Prospecting, Communication, Lead Management and Productivity.

There are other real estate software packages out there including Home Quest Group, Dezrez, Realty Juggler, Boston Logic, and Realty Ware. Try them out and find the one that meets your needs.

Brought to you by Mortgage Calculators a tool to help you work out your home buying finance options.

The Windows 8 App Store

29. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Business, Computers, Software

There’s little doubt that Apple’s App Stores has been pretty transformative for the company – sales from Apple’s App Store topped $1.5 Billion in revenue in 2010 alone mostly based upon a 30% revenue sharing deal with application developers. According to recent reports, Apple’s desktop App Store sales are quickly growing to meet the earning potential of the mobile App Store. Both the mobile and desktop App stores has provided many OS X and iOS developers with the ability to directly target their customers instead of relying on individual online storefronts.

Not content to be left out of App Store party though, Microsoft recently announced that their next major operating system – Windows 8 – will feature its own version of an App Store. This time around Microsoft is targeting both desktop and mobile users for their next operating system as it built to run on both desktops and tablets with no coding differences so it’s expected that their App Store will span both tablet and desktop environments.

On June 1st Microsoft officially showed off the new Windows 8 user interface and many of the OS’s new features, but only mentioned that the company is planning on using a App Store a la Apple in order to get applications to users hassle free. However, as of right now there’s no telling if Microsoft’s attempt at an App Store will be as fruitful as Apple’s. But there’s no doubt that many people will develop applications for the Windows 8 App Store when it is finally released. One of the biggest challenges to having a successful application store is ensuring that your operating system has a large install base, however, there should be no problem convincing developers that there are millions of Windows users.

According to Net Marketshare Windows currently has a 87.57% market share of all operating systems (including mobile operating systems). The Windows 8 App Store has amazing potential as well, imagine a future where a company like McAfee can sell their applications and services directly to users from the Windows 8 App Store instead of over the phone or from a clunky internet storefront. When Windows 8′s new Metro user interface was unveiled it was stated that this new look and the apps that would support it would be built upon HTML5 and Javascript.

This developmental change in application code has sparked a huge debate among long time Windows developers with some claiming that this is the beginning of the end of Silverlight and .NET application. However, many developers are praising Microsoft for the company’s radical departure from tradition and see the new HTML and Javascript coding environment as a potential to make applications that are easier to develop and maintain.

Furthermore, by embracing open coding environments like HTML5 and Javascript it is possible that many of the new Windows 8 apps will be portable to internet and mobile devices with little to no change in the application’s base code. So far the only evidence of the Windows 8 App Store is the icon that was shown when Windows 8 was first revealed the only thing left to do right now is to wait, but luckily it shouldn’t be a long wait as Windows 8 will is expected to be released in Fall 2012.

Information provided by social media marketing Scottsdale

5 Ways Cloud Computing Will Make Your Business More Agile

25. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has been increasing in popularity in recent years. The rise of server virtualization, the increases in bandwidth and broadband reliability and hardware advancements have led to increased power, availability and practicality of offsite data processing and online file storage. Cloud computing increases the efficiency of a business’s IT department and, in turn, makes the business as a whole more agile. Five ways in which cloud computing can aid a business are through data protection/recovery, availability of access to data, scalability, reduced cost, and allowing IT staff members to focus on higher-level tasks.

1. Data Protection

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits offered by cloud computing is the level of data protection and redundancy provided to cloud clients. Because data is stored offsite, power and network outages won’t affect availability for travelling users. A professionally hosted cloud service offers multiple layers of redundancy and failovers, often located in different areas of the country, capable of providing near 100% uptime to users. Further, cloud hosts often have a robust backup system that allows them to restore any lost data quickly, minimizing the risks of a company being without vital data.

2. Data Access

Cloud hosting, by its nature, makes stored data available across the Internet. This lends itself well to use by businesses with traveling employees. When a salesperson is giving a presentation in a remote location, online file storage allows them to access their documents anywhere they have an Internet connection, effectively eliminating the days of panicking over a missing presentation file.

3. Scalability

Virtualization allows multiple server programs to reside on the same machine–or multiple machines–and quickly delegate system resources for more intensive tasks. This allows clients to request resources as they need them and eliminates the need to forecast their needs. This can be especially helpful for new businesses that many not have a way to reliably predict their needs. Further, when a company does experience growth, they’ll have the ability to quickly scale their available resources to meet their demands.

4. Cost

Because businesses aren’t locked into a specific server and have the flexibility of the cloud, they can save money on their hosting by reducing their resources to meet their everyday needs, only paying for additional resources when they’re required. Also, businesses that use cloud hosting don’t have to pay up-front to purchase server hardware, power it and manage it. All of these costs are wrapped up in their monthly subscription fees and the costs of the host are spread out among all their clients.

5. Personnel

For companies and IT departments with tight budgets, freeing staff from performing low-level management of servers can be a valuable asset. Cloud hosts provide all physical and networking support, allowing the client to focus its IT staff on development and managing services.

Cloud computing provides many benefits for modern businesses, giving them increased data security and redundancy as well as providing remote access for travelling business members. The high scalability and low relative cost allows businesses to save money while still having their IT needs met. Finally, because IT personnel aren’t spending time managing the servers hosted in the cloud, more time, money and energy can be spent on company projects and development.

Thomas Stone is a content-manager and his company uses online file storage to handle all of their data-storage and project-management needs.

How Google Plus will Help Businesses

30. July 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Internet · Tags: Google Plus, google+, social media

Having launched only 30 days ago on June 28, 2011, Google Plus is still in essence the new kid on the social network “block” as it were, even so the service is already making waves among professional and general users. Less than four weeks after Google Plus launched, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 22, 2011 that the social networking site had already reached over 20 million users, despite the fact that service operated solely based on a limited invite only system for roughly a week. Though that same day Google removed several official business profiles created on Google Plus claiming that the service was not yet ready for business profiles, at the moment Google just doesn’t have a system in place like Facebook’s existing business pages like the Marlabs Inc Facebook page. However, Google has said that it’s alright with company officials or representatives of a brand creating personal profiles which they can also use to promote their business. The only problem with this approach though is that when Google add business pages to Google Plus there will be no way for the existing users to migrate their profile to a new business profile, according to Google developers. Therefore, users should take care when creating a profile for promoting their business.
Although Google has recommended that companies wait to create a corporate or fan page on Google Plus, many enterprising businesses people have already flocked to the growing social networking site. The reason that Google Plus has attracted so many general and coporate users is because of Google Plus is the selective sharing and viewing features that are possible with the service’s system which they are calling “circles”. Circles are a group of people that a user can apply a custom name or classification to on Google Plus. When a Google Plus users posts an update in their steam, which is the equivalent to Facebook’s wall, he or she can then select which circle or circles that are allowed to see the update. For example, a Google Plus user can choose to post an update about their sister’s birthday partly and limit it only to people that are part of their family circle. That same Google Plus user could also post another update to their stream and only let their friends or coworker see the post instead of their family. Furthermore, users of Google Plus can choose to see updates from one particular circle at a time instead of Facebook’s approach of having everything presented in one location. So if you want to see all of the posts made by Marlabs in a nutshell or by your closest friend then that is all possible with Google Plus.

Source: VentureBeat

Photo by Bruce Clay, Inc
Google Plus is copyright Google 2011

Facebook announces new Skype based Video Chat

11. July 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Internet · Tags: Facebook, Microsoft, Skype, Social Networking

At a press conference on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in Palo Alto, California, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced that Facebook will be officially rolling out video chat and group chat in the following weeks as part of Facebook’s messaging services. In a partnership with Skype, the leader in global VoIP service (Voice over Internet Protocol).

Since its founding in 2003, Skype has enabled millions of people around the world to communicate globally. Skype’s popularity stems from its intuitive user interface and rich features, many of which are free including Skype-to-Skype calls and one-to-one video calling. Skype has even gained acceptance among business entities that can work off of Skype’s low cost premium features like group video calling. International corporations that have employees that work in other counties or even continents like Raytheon Polar Services or Marlabs business processing outsourcing services can use Skype to communicate with their employees overseas without complications.

Facebook will be able to provide their over 750 million regular users with dedicated and reliable video chat. Facebook users will be able to invite their Facebook friends to a video chat or select from their Skype friend’s lists. Dedicated Skype users are not left out either as they will also be able to invite their Facebook friends to a chat or video chat session as well with the new Skype 5.5 desktop client. Skype 5.5 is currently in beta and only available for Windows but should be released in the coming weeks, and with support for both Mac and Linux. However, current mobile devices that can use Skype such as the iPhone and Android phones will be not able to conduct video chats with their Facebook friends at this time, although it is possible in the future.

Aside from video chat, Zuckerburg also announced that for the first time Facebook users will have the option of creating group chat sessions. All Facebook users have to do is select which friends they wish to add to a chat session by clicking an “add to chat button”, to create a group chat session which is then hosted by the original invitee. Transcripts of group chat sessions can be saved for users that could participate in a chat session; a useful feature for a group of friends planning on where to meet up, for instance. Facebook’s video chat and group chat services will be available in over 70 languages as well. By partnering with Facebook it’s possible that normal desktop use of Skype will decline but Skype claims that they are not concern about such an outcome. Since Skype was purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 Billion on May 10, 2011 it’s also possible that in the future there might be further integration between Facebook, Skype, and Microsoft products down the line such as the ability to conduct a video chat with Windows Live Messenger or Xbox Live friends and Facebook. It’s worth mentioning that the new Facebook video calling service will be free for all of Facebook’s 750 million plus users.

The second picture is of McMurdo Station in Antarctica, one of the largest research stations on the continent. From there people communicate with employers and loved one using Skype on a regular basis.

Photo by Alan Light

Read more about Facebook’s new video calling and group chat features at the official Facebook blog

Is this the new Google Interface?

27. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Internet

Is Google testing a new layout? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer. The truth is Google is constantly testing new updates around the world, though; cosmetic changes are just a bit easier to spot. One person’s experience with Google can be profoundly different from another’s: one person working out of an office might see the new Google UI will another person in the same office doesn’t. In case you’re wondering, here at Axesoft only one computer seems to be able to view the new user interface. The new user interface was first spotted around June 18th, but it looks like Google has started to deploy it here in the United States.

The new look seems to be a little more streamlined. The logo is a bit smaller and Google has eliminated both the standard search button and their trademark “I’m feeling lucky” button; in their place is just one simple blue search button. From our research, the new search button seems to be a combination of a white magnifying glass icon – included in a new, Google image sprite file — overlaid on a blue rectangular CSS background (#4D90F). Although, other sources claim that the new search button is included the sprite (nav_logo77) altogether, the current image sprite (nav_logo78) seems to lack the button as a whole. Google is known for their search speed and regularly adds or removes feature which they believe will help users search faster. Since the Instant Search was deployed, the removal of the standard search buttons isn’t that surprising – they are really necessary anymore. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to click on the old search buttons under the text entry field with Instant Search enabled.

The results page has gotten an overhaul as well. The multicolored icons in the left side navigation section have been replaced by simple black and white illustrations. Selections are now highlighted in red instead of the old method that used bolding and a blue bar. The light blue dividing lines have also disappeared and the search box is now enclosed in a light gray background.

This isn’t the first time Google has changed their new user interface; in fact, Google has about as many different looks and features globally as McDonald’s has menu items. As Google puts it, “Every time you search you are involved in more than one lab.” For instance, Google’s voice search feature, which was deployed in the United States June 14th, is not yet available for searches from the United Kingdom or Australia. And in 2010, Google introduced an integrated virtual keyboard in their search bar for countries which utilized non-Latin scripts with the intention that it would help users search in their native language.

Many of Google’s improvement boil down to reducing the time it takes for users to perform searches as much of Google’s revenue comes from search advertisements like sponsored searches. The most recent simplified user interface changes are most likely an attempt to reduce data consumption and page load times for Google; the new monochromatic PNG file is 29KB vs. the old one which was 33KB. The good thing is that what benefits Google sometimes benefits the user – this is one of those time.

Via Google Blog

Office 2010 Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student – Review

24. June 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: Software

Office 2010 – Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student – Review

As the new fall season approaches its time to start thinking about new productivity software like Office 2010 Hone and Student edition. Office 2010 Home & Student is Microsoft’s latest version of their popular productivity suite. Axesoft recently had a chance to run through Office 2010 and we have to say that we were very impressed by the changes that Microsoft has made. We choose to review Office 2010 because it while Office 2010 Home & Student doesn’t include programs like Visio or InfoPath, it has all of the programs that most user need such as: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. For those unfamiliar with Office, Microsoft Word is the document editing program, Excel is for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, and OneNote for taking notes. All of the programs included in Microsoft Office 2010 are pretty straightforward and simple. Nowadays, the only program that people are still remain confused about is OneNote – without a doubt one of the most advanced note taking applications in existence.

OneNote allows user to take typed or handwritten notes (for tablets or touchpad users) and match it with embedded photos and videos. OneNote is like the ultimate notebook and should be required software for every college student. Users can even search the text within pictures that are embedded in a OneNote file.

Office 2010 has all of the feature that people have come to love about Microsoft Office over the years –just improved. The new navigation interfaced that Microsoft introduced with Office 2007 known as the ribbon makes its triumphant return, but is now used consistently across a the all of the Office 2010 applications. There is also a new Backstage View for each ribbon that allows users to quickly access common tasks like printing or viewing recent documents. Thankfully, this time around Microsoft has made the ribbon interface user customizable. Not to mention that the entire ribbon interface can navigated using keyboard shortcuts or hidden altogether. Users also have access to more in-depth photo editing control in Word and new animations and transition in PowerPoint.

One of the best features of Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student is that it integrates perfectly with Microsoft’s Windows Live SkyDrive. SkyDrive is Microsoft’s free online cloud storage service that allows users to store, download, and edit documents and photos with 25 gigabytes of space. One of the benefits of cloud computing, which we wrote about previously, is that it allows users to access the same file across multiple devices. If you’ve ever fumbled with uploading and downloading documents with Google Docs or Dropbox then you will appreciate Office 2010’s simplified cloud strategy.

Files uploaded to Microsoft’s SkyDrive can be effortlessly accessed by any device from the web or directly from the Office 2010 interface. Documents saved to SkyDrive are instantly available for editing and review online and off including Word documents and PowerPoint presentations by using the free Office Web Apps. As the name implies, the Office Web Apps are browser based implementations of Office programs. Currently, the Office Web Apps collection includes basic versions of OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word. The Web Apps don’t have all of the features of their desktop counterparts but everything that you need to edit a document, which is especially useful if you are working from a device that does not have a Microsoft Office suite installed.

For an added bonus, OneNote files uploaded to SkyDrive are also automatically synced to any linked Windows Phone 7 device. Using OneNote between the Windows Phone 7 and desktop version lets users effortlessly replace third-party note taking applications like Evernote. Microsoft is expected to roll out support for additional file type synching in the future. With all of these features and more, Office 2010 is definitely Microsoft’s best Office suite yet.

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student is available at a great price here – Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student (Disc Version)

Cost of Illegal Software

20. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Software

For any business attempting to incorporate technology into the heart of their operations there are often legal considerations they may not have initially envisioned. Business software, particularly in specialist and specific niches, can oftentimes cost an exorbitant amount for individual programs and can oftentimes spiral into impossibly high costs to cover licensing fees for several different users. Many times, through either ignorance or as a means to save money, companies will try and side step these fees by allowing more users than they are licensed for to utilize purchased programs. However, regardless of intent or otherwise, if a company is caught engaging in such practices they may be liable to civil or, in some cases, criminal proceedings. Even if a company is unaware they were engaging in malpractice they could end up with a criminal record and a large fine against them. The possibilities of getting caught engaging in illegal use of software are also very high due to the diligent efforts of those representing the software’s copyright proprietors.

One of the most powerful and active watchdogs currently in operation is the Business Software Alliance (BSA). They are a body whose members include a multitude of the most influential technology companies in the world – including Microsoft, Apple, Dell and IBM amongst others – and whose modus operandi is ensuring self interests by pursuing those who may breach software licenses and those who engage in piracy. The BSA has many powerful allies and is regular communication with other international companies and governmental bodies and, as such, yields a great degree of influence itself.

The BSA is highly diligent and spends a large proportion of its time gaining and collating data regarding those who are believed to be in breach of the alliance’s interests. Any business whom is suspected of straying outside the BSA’s guidelines may find themselves the recipient of an audit or a fine. If the BSA requests to see a company’s proof of licensing, the business may find themselves levied with a fine even though the auditors may not actually have the legal rights to have made such a demand. Due to this it is important for a business to know their rights in this field.

Actions that can be made by a company who may, intentionally or not, have found themselves on the wrong side of the BSA can range from retrospective purchases of appropriate licenses, if the BSA is willing to negotiate such terms, or simply paying the fines and accepting whichever punishments are bestowed upon them. However, the best way of avoiding these issues entirely is to take some pre-emptive action to ensure that any legal requirements are understood and implemented.

There are a couple of different ways in which these actions can be undertaken. Using an Asset Management service is one way of ensuring a business is compliant to the rules of the BSA; it would be better to hire a service provider to find any mistakes in licensing agreements than to be caught out by the Business Software Alliance. Although it may cost a small fee to hire a third party to check a business’s software this cost is likely to be much smaller than the one accrued by gaining a large fine and potential loss of trade that could come with a criminal record.

Such a service provider could, in their review of a company, also potentially save their client money in the long run by highlighting the value for money currently offered on software agreements and perhaps could suggest better arrangements or options in regards to these licenses. During a review an Asset Management service could also highlight when warranties and licenses on purchased software were due to expire as well as more positive updates such as when their client would be entitled to new upgrades on their agreements. This procedure can also help streamline and optimize operations to see which software is not being utilized and thus is not necessary any more thus cutting costs. Finally, making sure that no business operation is undertaken utilizing illegal software can only but help and build consumer confidence and will gave the business a solid base to build upon.

AUTHOR BIO
Kieron Casey is a BA (Hons) Journalism graduate who blogs regularly on a number of topics including small business advice, payroll software and IT Solutions.

File Managment and Security with Cloud Computing

17. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cloud Computing, Software · Tags: cloud computing, dropbox, security, sharepoint

Cloud computing has, for the most part, simplified many of the issues with general file storage and retrieval; however, both file security and version control remain top concerns with local and cloud storage . One issue that exists when storing files locally arises when users need to move files between multiple computers or devices; trying to make sure that every device has access to the most recent files can easily become overwhelming. Version control refers to being able to manage the current state of a document or file and how users can make changes to an uploaded file. Most cloud services have some form of version control, although some are better than others. Cloud services for the average user such as Mobile Me and Dropbox can establish a directory on a computer to manage and sync all of the files uploaded to the services cloud storage. With both programs, version control is maintained client-side, in most cases, and involves prompting the user to choose which file is the latest. For example, when replacing an existing Dropbox file in Windows or OS X users are prompted that a file already exists and if they would like to replace it. As it turns out, most of the simple cloud services do not allow users to restore and uploaded file to an earlier state or version. The enterprise cloud services offer a bit more in terms of versioning and version control, though. For example, Microsoft’s SharePoint Workspaces enforces version control by having users “check out” files so that changes to any particular document remain consistent among multiple users. SharePoint also provides versioning and allows users to track and restore of the previous versions of files.

Contrary to cloud services, one benefits of locally storing files is the ability to implement more robust and custom data security system. Client-side, or local, file storage does not necessary prevent hacking or date theft, but it does allow users to have a bit more control over their security. Only some of the current cloud platforms even offer data encryption. Dropbox, for instance, states that they encrypt user data with AES-256 encryption at the server level. But, Dropbox recently came under fire when it revealed that, contrary to their terms of service, employees can in fact access user uploaded files despite the company’s encryption. Although, the instances that Dropbox employees would be granted access to client data would only be to comply with requests by law enforcement. In the event that Dropbox needed to comply with law enforcement they would decrypt a client’s files and relinquish them to authorities. Though short of a court order, Dropbox claims that its employees are prohibited from accessing user uploaded files. By storing files locally only the people that you physically allow to use your computer or device would have access to them.

Apple, curiously did not reveal what encryption method their upcoming iCloud platform would employ at latest WWDC. Current rumors suggest that transfers to and from the iCloud service will go through a secure and encrypted data connection but there has been no word yet if the individual files uploaded to the service will be encrypted. Then again, iCloud is not an enterprise level cloud service. Once again highlighting Microsoft’s SharePoint 2010 is the fact that its content databases can be encrypted with an SQL server. In any case, before choosing to store your files in the cloud or on your computer explore the security and file management pros and cons of each service and option.

Tomorrow is the World IPv6 Day

07. June 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Computers, History · Tags: computers, internet society, IP address, IPv4, IPv6

WORLD IPV6 DAY is 8 June 2011 – The Future is Forever

Buckle your seat belts because tomorrow is the World IPv6 Day. IPv6, of course is the update to the longstanding existing internet protocol, IPv4. Internet Protocol 4 or IPv4, was the fourth revision to the standard internet protocol. IPv4 and the upcoming IPv6 are what allow devices to has a virtual presence or address on the internet; it allows web site, routers and computers to know the destination and origin of data. In short, IPv4 and IPv6 are the backbone of the internet – without it you could not connect to any of your favorite sites like Facebook or Google. The current problem with IPv4 is that is limited in availability. Ipv4 addresses were made up of four octets (e.g. 255.255.255.255) comprised of the numbers 0 -9.

The IPv4 octets created a 32-bit address and allowed for over 4 billion unique IP addresses but with more and more devices connecting to the internet that pool of addresses is quickly depleting. There is only a finite amount of unique combinations that can be created from a limited set of numbers, so to fix this problem and expand the number of addresses IPv6, which is 64-bit, was introduced which will allow up to 3.4 x 10^38 unique addresses. The internet has been host to many pivotal moments in history, but rarely has it been the center of it. Tomorrow is a different story though; the test of IPv6 marks the first step towards transforming the entire internet. Before long everyone will be using IPv6 and when they ask where you where when the first major IPv6 test occurred you’ll have an answer. So join the tomorrow test, because before long there will be a new standard.

Tomorrow’s event, which was organized by the Internet Society, is being called a “test flight” and will last for the entire 24-hours of June 8th. The event is being held to reminded companies and individuals to take the necessary steps to be ready for the eventual IPv6 transition that will take place in the near future. Several major entities have signed up to participate in the test including Google (and Youtube), Facebook, Yahoo, Akamai, and Bing. Actually, Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, will be starting their IPv6 test a bit early; Bing’s IPv6 readyness testing will start today June 7 at 5:00 p.m. PT and run until June 8th at 5:00 p.m. PT. For a complete list of all of the sites that will be participating in tomorrow’s event check out the Internet Society’s page here.