March Madness: My Two Cents - 03/29/08 06:31 AM
Every March, I say this at least once, and I think most people just politely ignore me.   However, I think I shall say it again, just in case.....
The annual college basketball tournament has a couple catchy phrases:  "Sweet Sixteen" and "Final Four". 
The phrase usually used for this week in between Sweet Sixteen and The Final Four is usually called "Elite Eight".  Say Elite Eight out loud.  I think it falls pretty darn flat.  Not only that, it's a bit of a tongue twister.
However, just reverse the two words, and I think it can hold its own with the other two … (9 comments)

WordPress 2.5 - 03/23/08 06:26 AM
The newest version of Wordpress.org is scheduled for release the end of this month, (March, 2008).  This version is designated 2.5,  (2.4 having fallen through the cracks somewhere).
I spent some time searching around trying to find some info about the upcoming release.
The optiniche blog has quite a bit of information: http://www.optiniche.com/blog/382/wordpress-25-revealed-and-compared-to-version-23x/
Looks like a lot of user interface changes.  I'll withhold judgment until I've used it, but right now I'm thinking I won't upgrade all my WordPress blogs right away.  I'll upgrade a couple practice blogs first, and work with it for a while.
If nothing else, all my tutuorial screen shots will now … (19 comments)

Biz Op For Sign Vendor - 03/22/08 06:01 AM
Regular readers of Bloodhound Blog will know that every now and then Greg Swann talks about creating custom signs for each of his listings.
A unique sign is made for each individual listing.  The sign is printed with  full color images of the particular property, and with ad copy describing the particular property, along with the usual real estate company logo and info.
I love this idea.  Recently, in a comment thread about the signs, Greg remarked about how this could be a business opportunity for a sign vendor. 
The sign vendor could offer a selection of pre-designed semi-custom sign templates.  The customer would place an order via … (9 comments)

Jim Cramer on Bear Sterns - 03/18/08 10:08 AM
Anyone remember the outcry from the real estate industry about Jim Cramer's comments on the housing market back in September?
Here's a link to Ricardo Bueno's Active Rain blog with the video, to refresh your memory.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/219755/Jim-Cramer-says-Don
Well, if you found that exciting, you just have to watch this clip from March 11 of Jim discussing Bear  Sterns.  :-)
 
… (12 comments)

Just Curious: How Many New Agents Own Property? - 03/17/08 08:32 AM
Jeff Brown's post on BloodHound  about whether or now there is a paradign shift from "old-school" real estate sales techniques to "new-way" real estate sales techniques, got me thinking about a slightly different shift that I am seeing:
Back in the 70s, 80s, 90s, most agents owned their own home, most agents had personal experience in buying and selling property, and could speak to clients from personal experience, on a peer-to-peer level.
The boom times of the early 00s brought in newcomer real estate agents  who had never once signed a real estate contract in their entire lives.
I think somehow that changes … (12 comments)

Firefox 3 Beta 4 - 03/16/08 12:26 PM
Anyone else download and install Firefox 3 Beta 4 yet?
I just did this morning, and so far, it's performing like a champ.  (As long as you don't count access to the Glendale-Foothills I-Tech MLS which is IE only  :-(  )
Now to play around with some of my add-ons.  
Here are the release notes:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.0b1/releasenotes/
Here's a link to the download site in case anyone else wants to get it a try: 
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html
… (5 comments)

Using Irfanview To Resize Photos In A Batch - 03/09/08 02:00 PM
Sometimes you just simply need to resize a whole bunch of photos.  You don't need or want to edit them individually at this particular point .... you just need to reduce the size as quickly as possible so you can get the photos uploaded for some project or another.
Enter Irfanview.  To me, using Irfanview for just this one task - Batch Resizing - is the easiest and fastest way to go.
You can download Irfanview here 
After installing Irfanview, to start a batch resize, click File -> Batch Conversion/Rename

 
The Batch conversion window will open.  In the "look … (16 comments)

Download, Install and Use An UNZIP Program - 03/01/08 08:05 AM
A few days ago I started  a tutorial series on using FTP, specifically using FTP to upload and install a WordPress plugin.  Please note these steps apply for a WordPress.ORG blog, you don't have FTP access if you are using WordPress.COM  (Here's the official WordPress explanation of the difference.)
If you look at the entire process of installing a plugin, then break it up into "phases", it would look like this:
Download, install and set-up an FTP programDownload and unzip the pluginUpload the plugin to your site, and activate it in WordpressThe first post covered Phase 1.
Here's Phase 2:  Downloading and uzipping the plugin.
First … (15 comments)

 
Cat-hat-cj Rainmaker_large

Cheryl Johnson

Highland Park, CA

More about me…

Cheryl Johnson, Bob Taylor Properties, Inc., Los Angeles, CA

Address: 5526 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90042

Office Phone: (323) 257-1080

Email Me

Caution: CAT BLOG AHEAD

Including random thoughts on life, art, business, stuff, and occasionally Real Estate.

What is a CAT BLOG?

According to Seth Godin: "Cat blogs are for, by, and about the person blogging. A cat blog is about your cat and your dating travails and your boss and whatever else you feel like sharing in your public diary." Well, I am the boss, my dating years are behind me, but I do love my cats.

Enjoy!

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