Zillow mines public data for pre-sale foreclosures, new Apple goodies, the worst passwords, and best blogs
Using publicly available data, Zillow plans to list properties in foreclosure before they are even listed for sale.
Remember your tiny dorm room from college with the bathroom down the hall? Or perhaps you shared a decrepit rental with 5 of your best buddies, with an old couch on the front porch. Dorms have evolved into cottage-style housing, reports The Wall Street Journal. “At the Cottages of Columbia near the University of Missouri, the units include 9-foot ceilings, stainless-steel appliances, hardwood floors and marble bathroom countertops. Other developers include walk-in closets, steam rooms, indoor golf simulators, basketball courts and yoga studios. ”My parents told me to not get used to living like this,” said Avery Bond, a Louisiana State University senior who has lived at the Cottages of Baton Rouge for three years and pays $630 a month.”
Apple releases a flood of updates (Mac mini, iMac, Macbook Pro with Retina, iPad) and a new, smaller iPad this week. How does the new iPad Mini stack up against the competition? Engadget has a handy chart. Update: within hours of pre-ordering opening on Friday, the white version of the mini appears to be already sold out.
And if you are one of those who needs to keep up with the latest and greatest, Mashable via CNN gives some suggestions on where you can sell your iPad 3.
Just in time for Halloween, Splashdata lits the scariest (ie worst) passwords for 2012. Unchanged from last year: #1 ‘password’ #2 ’123456′ #3 ’12345678′. #18 was a surprise to me: ‘shadow’.
During this presidential campaign, housing has been ignored. Why? Housing hasn’t been a feature in the debates or on the campaign trail. Seattle Bubble speculates that “Here’s one possible explanation: Neither wants to have a serious discussion about housing because they would have to talk about the mortgage interest deduction, which more and more is looking like it will need to be severely limited or possibliy even eliminated no matter who gets elected.”
The United States will be outpacing Saudi oil production, says the Energy Department. Production of crude and liquid hydrocarbons next year should reach a 40-year high. Increasing U.S. oil production will cut the need for foreign imports, helping our economy. The oil boom in such states as North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming has decrease unemployment and helped companies that support the oil boom, like pipe suppliers and railroads.
This week Tina Brown, editor at Newsweek, discussed the venerable print magazine’s transformation into a digital-only publication next year on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Time rounds up the best blogs for 2012, covering everything from the economics of gadgets to the Civil War to Kate Middleton’s fashions.
Veteran REALTORS®, the street in literature, ice cream banking, and talk like Inspector Gadget
With the flurry of articles harping on the financial, career, and general life failures of the Millennials, the Fiscal Times’ slide show 7 Recession Status Symbols gives this generation a much needed ego-boost. The sluggish economy gives rise to a socially and eco conscious, non-materialistic, and open-minded generation.
Fanboys around the world are lining up for iPhone 5, released today. The reviews came in earlier this week from the technorati press – most of it positive.
Koenig & Strey is helping veterans become REALTORS®. This program will provide assistance to qualified veterans, including real estate school and licensing fees, NAR dues, insurance and other fees and costs. Veterans are highly disciplined and used to overcoming obstacles—a perfect fit for real estate.
Sometimes you want to have a bit of background music but you’re not sure what you want to hear. Songza, one of Time‘s 50 best websites of 2012, will help you pick based on your mood.
The New Yorker recently noted how several recent novels, as well as some from the past, use real estate or a home as almost a character itself, representing the rise and fall of a family or neighborhood.
Tired of low returns on your savings account? How about interest in ice cream or coffee coupons? One entrepreneur in Pittsburgh has opened a community bank alternative as part of his ice cream parlor after being hit by multiple overdraft fees from his own bank. Customers who deposit $100 can earn $5.50 a year in coupons for ice cream, coffee or waffles. The bank also makes loans and cashes checks. However, there’s no FDIC insurance or other guarantees…
Time for a kitchen remodel? How about a $100,000 stove? Not in the budget this year? Well, here are some kitchen tips and tricks that will make your cooking taste like it came from one.
Shiver me timbers, we missed international talk like a pirate day! But being an outlaw means breakin’ some rules. Have a belated celebration with the natural pirate beverage – rum!
Flowers are not only beautiful to look at, but will boost your productivity. Having flowers at your desk and in your office can ease depression and negativity and promote creativity.
‘Handsfree’ is certainly a popular term in mobile phone technology, but a new invention goes to the other extreme. Hi-Call Gloves have a built in mic and speaker so you can look just like Inspector Gadget as you listen through your thumb and talk through your pinkie. Of course you’ll also look crazy, but at least your hands will be warm as you talk. Still in the development stage, the gloves use bluetooth technology so are compatible with most smart phones. And capacitive touch build in so you can text and surf Facebook without taking the gloves off.
iPhone tracking, ordering to overeat, and how to cook the Easter Bunny.
This week brought news of movement on Capitol Hill toward Internet and technology privacy legislation, presciently timed with recent news of the iPhone and iPad tracking issue.
Obama: Housing ‘Probably the Biggest Drag on the Economy’
The last chapter has been written for Google Video for a number of years. The site stopped accepting new videos a number of years ago, but Google is now officially pulling the plug. Still have videos on the site? Need to figure how to get them off? Wired‘s Webmonkey has the info.
Another sign of the Apocalypse? Mashable via CNN reports on how the tablet war is heating up in restaurants, replacing live waiters or waitresses. Apparently people order more when they can do it digitally themselves. A tablet doesn’t judge when you order a piece of chocolate lava cake. Just what we need…
You know you can listen to music, make a call, check sports scores, and lots of other things on a smart phone, but did you know you can check your heart rate? Lots of gadgets these days have secondary functions that people overlook. Yahoo! uncovers some gadget surprises.
To celebrate Earth Day, many businesses are offering consumers free stuff, good deals, and chances to win valuable prizes. Yahoo Green has gathered just a sampling of Earth Day deals.
And speaking of green: I wouldn’t even know where to buy one, but Fox News had an interesting story on a not-so-traditional Easter Dinner idea: how to cook a rabbit. Really the story is more of a why cook a rabbit: It is leaner than chicken, veal or turkey, with less fat and cholesterol. It has half the calories per pound compared to beef and pork and is the most easily digestible protein around. They grow fast, meaning they impact the environment less and don’t need antibiotics or hormones. Sounds like a great idea to me.
You’ve all seen the movies where the heroes outrun an explosion or even use it to propel their mode of escape – like a surfer riding a wave. Yeah, right. Gizmodo tries to answer the question how big an explosion could you realistically survive?
Money Magazine asks: Should you give your kid a down payment? My parents helped me get over that initial hurdle (thanks Mom & Dad!), but you need to look at your financial situation and see what the best method might be: a gift, a loan, co-signing or something else.
The spread between the cost of buying a foreclosed vs. a non-foreclosed home continues to grow.
The Washington Post‘s tech blog reports on the first rumors of what to look for on Apple’s iPad 2.0, due in mid-2011.
Google launches its eBook store. Amazon counters with its Kindle for Web. CNN spells out some of the differences between Google’s new store and its competitors. Salon also reviews, says ‘meh’…
“Millionaire” is so passe… What’s rich in 2011?
In this economy, we’re seeing lots of stories about the return to multi-generational living, but what happens when there is no family to go home to? The Chicago Tribune recently noted the rise in homeowners renting out rooms to boarders.
As we’ve reported before, sloppy work and robo-signing by banks or mortgage brokers can drag out the foreclosure process. But how about 25 years?!
Twelve quick things you can do right now to give yourself a health boost. I would like #12 about now…
And what we’re watching: Health vs Wealth in 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes from BBC via YouTube.
While there’s no guarantee that Apple will launch a tablet computer on Wednesday, Jan. 27, the web has been a-buzzing for over a month with rumor and speculation. If you haven’t kept up, Gizmodo or CNET have recaps for you on the latest gossip.
But unless you’re in the market for a new small computer or are in love with all things Mac, why should you care? Well, for one, Apple tends to drive the competition to keep up. Already Amazon has announced that it’s opening an apps store for its e-reader, the Kindle. Similar to the way the iPhone changed the smart phone market when it debuted in 2007, Apple’s tablet could push other firms to copy and improve on the tablet’s design in their own products.
So, like the iPhone, you may not actually want or need the iSlate, iTablet, iPad or whatever name Steve Jobs reveals on Wednesday, but it will shape your technology purchases down the road.
Unless it’s another AppleTV.
Stay tuned…
