The other day I finally got my personal website, JamesShiner.com, up and running. I posted an interesting blost post video there today that I wanted to share with you.

Here's an excerpt:

"Statistics like the ones in the video below always amaze me. I've been a proponent for social media since it first hit the web. I've been telling clients for years that they need to get their business on Facebook and Twitter, that they need a blog, and that engaging with customers on these platforms will increase their business."

Read the full article here.

The iPad 3G came out last week and a few people I know were waiting to buy until the 3G version came out. I assume this was the case for many buyers. Of course the 3G model has a $14.99 per month service fee for 250MB of data transfer or $29.99 for unlimited transfer. Whats nice though is there is no service contract:

“Best of all, there’s no contract. So if you have a business trip or vacation approaching, just sign up for the month you’ll be traveling and cancel when you get back. You don’t need to visit a store to get 3G service. You can sign up, check your data usage, manage your account, or cancel your service — all from your iPad.” – Apple.com

I’ll be honest, I don’t see a need for an iPad in my life. It may be partly because I’m not traveling as much as I used to or that I have a laptop, but somehow I’ve gone without buying one of Apples hot new products. In fact, I haven’t even played with one yet!

So with all the cool features, apps and possibilities the iPad brings to the table I am wondering: How are you using the iPad for real estate?

A few months ago I announced my resignation from the position of Lead Developer at Zipvo. It was a bitter sweet moment for me and I knew I would miss real estate and all of the great people I had met. That was then, this is now.

Today I am happy to announce that I'm back! I am no longer with Zaang and will once again be able to focus on real estate. During my time away I was still on the advisory board at Zipvo and have been working on some really cool things we will be launching soon.

We're also working on putting together another RE BarCamp Boston that looks like it will be in September this year. I'm very excited about this event. Last years was a great success and I know this years will be even bigger and better.

I will also start blogging again here on ActiveRain and the other various real estate blogs I used to contribute to.

So be sure to subscribe to my blog again and tell your friends that I'm back!

About six months ago I got involved with an awesome startup, Zaang. Zaang is the one place where you can easily connect with other people who are interested in the same thing you are... anything you can imagine. Last Monday, February 1, we launched to the world. The growth since launch has been great and I wanted to share with you this powerful tool for real estate agents.

Zaang allows you to connect with others who share your interests. There is already a World of Real Estate on Zaang, and it's just waiting for real estate agents to hop on and share links, videos, photos, questions, and anything else that relates to real estate.

Real estate agents are already using Twitter, Facebook, ActiveRain and a number of other tools to connect with other agents. Zaang brings this one step beyond that. Our platform is similar to that of a forum, but with a web 2.0 / soclai media twist on it. Unlike Twitter we organize your conversations into specific topics. Unlike Facebook we aren't focused on the individual, we're focused on the community that exists around a topic.

On Zaang, you can follow a person, World, or a topic. Your home feed on Zaang is a collection of everything you follow. It includes photos, videos, chatter, links and audio files.

Let's take this beyond the World of Real Estate though. There are a number of other Worlds you can explore on Zaang. There are local worlds, technology worlds, and even worlds about Disney. Much like any other social network you can participate in local worlds and prove your expertise. You can build meaningful relationships with other users that can someday turn into sales.

So log on, check it out and let me know what you think! You can find my profile here.

My new company, Zaang, launched a new site today that allows users to request a beta membership as well as suggest topics for our initial "worlds". A world is like a group, but so much more! It allows users to upload videos, photos, articles, links, audio, and comments on a central topic.

I was able to get Real Estate on the initial suggestion list so head on over to www.Zaang.com and let us know you want the World of Real Estate on Zaang!

Hope to see you on there!

It's a bitter sweet moment for me on this 3rd birthday of Zipvo, as today I am announcing my resignation as Lead Developer here. It has been a wild ride, and in the three years here some awesome things have been created. I met some great people at some great events, and I will miss it all dearly. To all my readers out there of my various blogs, those will also be coming to an end, and I thank you for reading!

This decision was a tough one. I love video and I love real estate, and I know Zipvo will continue to revolutionize the way video is used in real estate. However, I felt it was time for me to move onto the next thing. I have no doubt that Zipvo will continue to do great without me.

As for what I will do next, that brings up some exciting news! I have joined Zaang.com,  a startup based in Cambridge, MA, as Lead Developer. Zaang is a micro collaboration site with a great team and a great idea. Check out Zaang.com to learn more about it.

As for me and Zipvo, I will remain on the team in an advisory role, and may make an appearance at a conference here and there to say hello to everyone. I will most definitely be at the next RE BarCamp Boston and look forward to it!

Best of luck to everyone, I hope to see you around!

James

Hello everyone! Have you missed me? I've been neglecting my blogs lately, and for that I apologize.

I have been crazy busy lately preparing for RE BarCamp Boston, launching my new technology blog On Top Of Tech, and working on the all new Zipvo that's launching at the Zipvo party after RE BarCamp Boston.

My crazyness is scheduled to end on June 12 so I will be back then! In the meantime catch up with me at RE BarCamp Philly, check out On Top Of Tech or come on out to RE BarCamp Boston to come see everything I've been working on!

I like to surround myself with the most talented, knowledgable and energetic people that I can find. The same goes for the talent we bring to Zipvo. We're always looking for the best of the best to join our team.

So without further ado, I'd like you to help me welcome Jason Craig to both the Zipvo team and ActiveRain!

Jason is a very talented graphic designer, marketer, and website developer. He has joined Zipvo as Marketing Director / Lead Desiger and is going to help make your experience on Zipvo the best that it can be. When you see us at tradeshows, conferences, RE BarCamps, or anywhere else, the marketing collateral, shirts, etc that we're toting around are all thanks to Jason!

Jason's Official Bio:

Jason has more than 15 years experience in marketing, advertising, and communications making him the excellent choice for our Marketing Director. Jason is responsible for determining the group marketing agenda, setting the strategic marketing priorities, and continuing to enhance the marketing capability of the business at ZIPVO Corporation.

Earning his degree in Graphic Arts, Jason is an accomplished/award winning designer, with a unique balance of creative and technical expertise, coupled with a strong background in print, and web design. Throughout his career he has gained an understanding in the importance of knowing the long-term vision of a company and how to accurately and consistently reflect and strengthen that message in all visual and written communications.

Jason also has a great website with samples of his work. Jason Craig Boston is an awesome portfolio showcasing some of Jason's best work. Check out some of his website work, marketing collateral, vehicle wraps, and anything in-between.

Not only will Jason be joining Zipvo, he will also be sharing his marketing knowledge with you here on ActiveRain! You can read Jason's Blog to learn all about marketing, website tips and tricks, and much more!

So shoot Jason a message on ActiveRain, check out his website, and be sure to follow him on Twitter!

We all used to have them, and they used to be the standard. Vertical photos like the one of me on the right were what used to rule the Internet. However, with social networks switching over to square photos, it's important that you optimize your photo for social networking sites such as Twitter, ActiveRain, Facebook, etc.

Some sites like Facebook allow you to crop your profile image to pick a square section of it to show up as your avatar. (Your avatar is that square photo of you that you see on sites like Twitter.) But having to select a section sometimes cuts out other parts that you would have rather left in there. Sites like Twitter just take a square section of your photo and makes that your avatar, as does ActiveRain. This is not the sites fault. Having the same shape photo, in this case square, makes the site look much cleaner and does not break designs.

The fix to this, and way to ensure your photo looks great on all sites, is uploading a square photo to all of these sites instead of your outdated vertical photo. By doing this you don't leave the cropping up to the site. You control exactly how you want your photo to look.

With a site like Picnik this is very easy to do:

• Simply go to www.Picnik.com and upload your photo.
  
• Make sure it's the largest one you can find, as this will allow for better quality of your photo. Some sites scale it down, but others store it in various sizes for use around the site.
• Once uploaded go to "Crop"
• You'll see a drop down at the top that says "No Constraints" - Select this and choose "Square"
• Drag and scale that square to whatever portion of the photo you would like to use.
• Then on the top right click "Ok"
• Then click the tap up top that says "Create"
• If you'd like you can now add effects to the photo such as black and white.
• When done click "Save & Share" in the top right corner.
• This will allow you to enter a file name. Keep the dimensions and format the same. Change the quality to 10.
• When done click "Save Photo"
• Select somewhere on your computer to save it. Remember where it is so you can upload this on every site1

That's it! You now have a square photo that will optimize the appearance of your profile, posts, comments, etc on social networking sites.

Some believe a virus called the "Conficker Worm" may wreak havoc tomorrow on April Fools Day. Conficker runs on stealth mode and spies on everything you do to obtain your financial information and your passwords.

On April 1st it's going back to it's servers to get new instructions and may launch a new attack on PC's.

Here are some signs you might be infected:

• Cannot access Microsoft.com (Check now)
• Cannot access security websites like Symantec, McAfee, etc.
• Cannot power down computer.

If you're experiencing any of the above symptoms unplug your computer or turn of your wireless connection now! Also change all of your online passwords from a computer that is not infected. Then call in the experts to help you rid your computer of this virus.

This may also be a good time to update all of your virus software.

Here's some information from Microsoft.com - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962007