4 Ways To Add An Event Calendar To Your Wordpress Blog

By Chad A. Johnson · June 24, 2009 · 2 Comments 

The addition of an event calendar can add a lot of value to your website or blog. This is especially true for those real estate agents who maintain a community based site.

Posting information on events such as farmers’ markets, garage sales, club meetings and city recreation programs to a calendar makes your website community resource. A resource worth bookmarking, Twittering or sharing on Facebook.

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Bluehost For Your Web Hosting Needs

By Chad A. Johnson · June 12, 2009 · 6 Comments 

Through building and maintaining websites for many years, we at MyTechOpinion have worked with a slew of web hosting companies. Each with their own collection of quirks and idiosyncrasies. While no hosting service is perfect, there are several companies that rise above the competition.

One of the web hosting companies that we have grown very fond of over the last 2 years is Bluehost.com. This straight forward hosting service provides a level of service and low price that is hard to find. Here are the key reasons we use Bluehost and recommend it to our clients.
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Overcoming the Wordpress “Fatal Error: Allowed Memory Size” Error

By Chad A. Johnson · June 3, 2009 · 1 Comment 

If you are like me, you love Wordpress for it’s extendability. Through the use of plugins, new features and functionality can be easily added. Because of this, Wordpress is one of the best platforms to build a real estate agent website on.

While plugins can be a blessing, they also can cause problems with a website. This can come in the way of slow website performance or error messages.

One common error message experienced by those getting a bit “plugin happy” (activating a lot of plugins on a single Wordpress installation) is that of the “Fatal Error: Allowed memory size…” error.

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A Real Estate Presentation in the Palm of Your Hand

By Chad A. Johnson · May 9, 2009 · 2 Comments 

Real estate agents are some of the most mobile professionals on Earth. Always on the go from house to house and appointment to appointment.

This mobility has led to an army of real estate agents carrying small laptops. These lightweight devices are wonderful, until you need to present to a client.

Having 2 or 3 people huddled around a 13″ screen to view a listing presentation or homes for sale can be difficult, especially if anyone has a personal space issue. Even the best of presentations will lose some effectiveness given in this uncomfortable manner.

Thankfully, new technology has arrived to make you a mobile real estate titan.

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4 Ways to Access Your Files Remotely

By Chad A. Johnson · March 30, 2009 · 14 Comments 

So, you are like many real estate agents in that you have more than one computer. Usually that entails a desktop computer at the office and a laptop for home and the field. Shortly after adding that second computer, a completely new technology problem arises:

How do you access all of your important files from each computer?

Luckily, software and hardware companies have created numerous ways to solve this problem. The right solution for you will depend on how much data you have, how consistently you have internet access and what your budget is.

Here are 4 ways to access your files remotely:
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Boost Laptop Performance

By Chad A. Johnson · March 3, 2009 · 3 Comments 

Windows Vista introduced a new feature called ReadyBoost. ReadyBoost uses high speed flash memory (usually thumbdrives) to speed up the computer’s performance.

Though experts argue over the actual performance improvement seen by ReadyBoost, it is a simple and inexpensive way to add memory to a computer. With 4GB “ReadyBoost Ready” flash drives advertised for $10, even the smallest performance increase is worth the investment.

While I have considered a ReadyBoost drive essential equipment for any Windows Vista desktop, I have never incorporated it into a laptop computer. For portability purposes, having a thumbdrive constantly connected to my laptop seemed impractical.

Luckily, flash memory comes in other shapes and sizes.

Many laptops are now coming equipped with flash card readers. While these can be handy, many people don’t use them. In my case, my Dell laptop has an SD card reader, but I don’t own a device that uses SD cards. Hence, the card reader has remained unused, that is until recently.

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Pimp Your Screens

By Chad A. Johnson · February 16, 2009 · 7 Comments 

Now that you have 2 (or more) monitors, it’s time to customize your system. Here are a few resources to give you extra functionality and ways to personalize your multiple monitor system.

Utilities

Want the taskbar to extend across all screens? Want to display different wallpapers on each monitor or one large image across both screens? These and other features may require additional software. Here are a few utilities to get more control over your multiple monitor system.

UltraMon ($39.95)

Complete dual monitor utility that I currently use. The most feature rich of the dual monitor control programs. Features include: Read full story

Double Your Monitor, Double Your Fun!

By Chad A. Johnson · February 8, 2009 · 15 Comments 

Dual monitor systems are no longer just for geeks. Granted, Reggie, NikNik and I are geeks and we all use dual monitor systems. But it is time that the average real estate agent looks into adding a second monitor to their desk.

What is so special about using 2 monitors?

Besides making your friends think you are a computer genius, there are huge productivity benefits to having a second screen. Think of all of the programs that you have open during a typical business day. At any given point, you may have a browser or 2 open, Outlook, a few folders, a photo or video editing program, Twhirl or another Twitter application and maybe even iTunes for some background music. All of this can quickly clutter a computer screen.

Now, image that instead of one 22″ monitor, you have 2. Suddenly, you have twice the real estate to work with. You can move email and social networking activities to one monitor while reserving the other screen for browsing, photo editing and video creation.

No more shuffling through windows to get to what you want to work on next. Everything is already in front of you.
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Apple or Windows? You Chime In.

By Chad A. Johnson · January 14, 2009 · 35 Comments 

It has held true that none of my blog posts get as many comments as those that discuss Apple products as real estate technology solutions. The passion and devotion of the legion of Apple fans, not to mention the hordes of Windows users,  has made for some spirited debates and turned many new readers on to MyTechOpinion.

In an effort to spark a discussion to rival any that we have had on MyTechOpinion, I would like to try something a bit different. A sort of editorial piece if you will.

I will ask a question, provide a few pieces of information to fuel the discussion and then allow you to weigh in. My hope is that different opinions and points of view can be presented in a way that will shed new light on the subject, as this is a question that has bewildered me for years.

With that said, here we go:

Is the Apple computer really as superior to a Windows computer as many Mac users would have you believe?

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Simplify Your Real Estate Technology Needs

By Chad A. Johnson · January 10, 2009 · 2 Comments 

OK, now that I have your attention, how do I propose you do this? Connect all of your electronic devices to your network. Printers, external hard drives, media card readers, plug them all into your network.

How does this simplify?
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Go Green and Save Money

By Chad A. Johnson · December 26, 2008 · 7 Comments 

It is a wonderful thing when going green can save you money, especially if there are no costs involved. Reducing power consumption is a great way to do just that.

One of the easiest ways to save power is to configure the power settings of your computer. By putting the computer to sleep when not in use, it can save quite a bit on the power bill.

Verdiem’s Edison PC Power Management Software makes configuring your Windows’ power scheme a breeze. This program is being offered for free by the Microsoft Environment division.

The Edison software provides an incredibly simple way to control when to shut down monitors, hard drives and put the entire computer to sleep. As you move a single slider from “Save Less” towards “Save More”, a chart updates the annual savings in money, energy and CO2 for that setting.

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New Computer Under The Tree?

By Chad A. Johnson · December 15, 2008 · 7 Comments 

Tis the season for new technology and many of you will find a new computer under the tree on Christmas morning. What an exciting time.

Before you jump in and start playing with your new toy, there is a fair amount of set-up and maintenance to perform. I know, you can’t wait and why does a new computer need maintenance? Trust me, a bit of work upfront will pay off on the long run. Besides, what else are you going to do on Christmas afternoon?
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