I was scouring Youtube the other night and stumbled across a rare interview that Patrick McGoohan (the titular tour de force behind The Prisoner) did in 1977. It is in four parts that run about 40 minutes and the quality is what you’d expect from a VHS recording, but it is an interesting look not only behind-the-series itself but on McGoohan’s views of society in general.

A warning for those of you who haven’t seen The Prisoner: there are spoilers here regarding the series’ finale—actually, finale isn’t the right word to use regarding The Prisoner‘s last episode, so let’s just get that out of the way right now.

Anyway, for your consideration…

I do happen to agree with McGoohan’s assertion that progress, or what passes for progress, is the most dangerous issue that humanity faces. There are many valid points here that are worthy of debate, such as his observation that there has not yet been a weapon created by man that hasn’t been used. We already know about the ciphering of the citizenry—with everyone assigned with a number (or, in today’s world, countless numbers)—and we know of the horror of nuclear and, to a lesser extent, biological weapons. Ergo, we should all be very fearful of what is to come, unless we take care and control of our actions as a species.

You may not agree, but at least watch the above videos, and feel free to discuss as I intend on writing more on these topics in the future.

Be seeing you.

1. Battlestar Weékeéheé

The above is a nod to my friend, Shannon/Taser/Doubletap, who kept on referring me by this name whenever she was up in Vancouver.

So, the website is finally back online. Getting all the logistics into place for moving the server took time out of Shane’s and my life, not to mention all the technical obstacles that popped up during our arduous server move. As you can imagine, this endeavor was the largest (and longest) move that we’ve ever made. It isn’t for the feint of heart, and Shane (who did most of the IT heavy lifting), is a trooper. If it weren’t for him, I would have swan-dived off the roof.

All the while we were down, people came forward and offered their assistance. (One of them, in particular, I would like to make a special mention of as they are responsible for our new home when MediaTemple didn’t pan out, but I’m leaving that for its own blog in a more official venue.) Some of them freaked out, which is something that concerns me a bit, but I took the time to assure them that it was a server move that took longer than expected.

I continue to be humbled by the appreciation that people have for the website, and the server move not only cuts costs, but also results in a more powerful server that can handle all the requests that people make on it.

Did you know that the Wiki has over 2,000 unique visitors an hour? That’s with the show no longer being on the air, by the way, which explains why my jaw sort of hits the ground a bit.

During our peak, we had well over 300,000-400,000 unique visitors a month, if not more. The site is tremendously popular and I am honored to have been the guy who began something that’s attracted talent from across the world. At the risk of gushing, it’s really something when a website gets you the opportunity to help create history, particularly with the Battlestar auctions that happened in 2009.

And, as you might be aware, the Wiki has always been the slowest every time an episode airs. Sometimes, the servers crashed. And that sucked, for everyone. Now that we have a powerful server at an economical price, I think we’ve achieved balance there where it won’t crash and burn everytime the Wiki addicts want to look up something.

It will be interesting for me to see what Caprica holds, particularly for the website. I hope the show is of great quality and is around for a while.

Exciting.

2. Mass Effect

On the gaming front, I’m working my way through the first Mass Effect, and I am really digging the game so far. For some reason, I find myself more attracted to Mass Effect than I am to something like Dragon Age: Origins. I seem to have a better handle on leveling my characters, modifying my equipment, affecting the story the way I think it should be played out, and I’m just having fun with it. Given some of what I’ve seen in the game so far, I suspect that there are some Mass Effect programmers and writers who are fans of BSG and Farscape.

With that, I’m really looking forward to Mass Effect 2 based on my experience in this game.

While I know that these RPGs are from the same company and everything has the same basic concept—bionic powers being indistinguishable to magic spells and the same basic general character classes, for instance—I’ve found that I respond better to the science fiction setting. Perhaps because I’ve always found science fiction far more interesting (and with more possibilities) than a realm run by wizards, ogres, dragons and the like. This isn’t a knock against fantasy, since fantasy and science fiction have always been intertwined, but science fiction has its advantages. Particularly if it is well executed. I would go as so far to say that science fiction brings fantasy into the realm of the galactic universe, as opposed to the mystical one. Or one is an extension of the other.

Needless to say, I’m of a few different minds on this…

3. Moving Blah-Log

Keeping up with my blogging has been a bit of a chore for me. However, persistence is key, and I’m chugging along. Some of the blah-logs are probably boring, but it’s a cross-section of what limited interests I do have in this pitiful little life of mine.

One of the things I’ll be doing is moving my blah-log to the MT server that my company (FrakMedia!) has, since I’m consolidating things. Right now, I have three different hosts for various sites, and I want to reduce that number. Same with domain names. I have some domains through 1&1, one through resell.biz (that’s JoeBeaudoin.net) and GoDaddy. Goal is to get all the domains over to GoDaddy within the next few weeks. JoeBeaudoin.net is being migrated now and should be transferred by the 12th, and once that is done, I can implement all the necessary DNS changes and move this blah-log over.

Yes, that was fun to know wasn’t it?

Until tomorrow, good night and good luck.

Today’s blog isn’t going to be an necessary harangue on how real estate professionals should take photos.

Today is Sunday, and today should be entertaining. In that frame of mind, I’ve dug up these videos from YouTube. They tickle my geek bone, particularly the whole computer thing, and mock those rather annoying “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads that I have little love for. So if you mix those elements with South Park, this appears to be the end result.

And when we throw Linux into the mix…

Have a stellar Sunday!

It has come to my attention that some of you don’t know how to take pictures. I’ve seen the photos you’ve taken in the MLS database (if you bothered to take them at all), and you need to understand a few things about photography.

You know that saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? It is true. What that axiom fails to add, perhaps because the person who originated it assumed this additional caveat, is this: “Those words can either tell the story well, or not.”

As with anything else, there are the basics of photography that you’ll need to understand. Photography is just as important as being able to not only write and understand real estate contracts, but also establish rapport with your buyers or sellers. It’s one of the basics of marketing, along with writing ad copy or descriptions of said property for your MLS provider.

So here’s what you need to do in order to be successful at this skill. And it’s all about the basics.

Here are a few important questions that I’ll address:

1. Who is going to be taking the pictures?
2. What equipment are you going to be using?
3. When are you going to be taking these pictures?
4. Where are you going to be taking said pictures at?
5. How are you using these pictures?
6. Why did you do any of the above?

1. Who is going to be taking the pictures?

One of two important components to this endeavor is determining who will be tasked with photography. Will it be you? Do you have an assistant that does this?

What is their experience in taking the pictures? Many people have the ability to point a camera at something and take a shot of it, but there’s something to be said about talent. Knowing what to take a picture of, as well as how to make something presentable for pictures (the right lighting, for instance) makes all the difference.

2. What equipment are you going to be using?

You are only as good as your tools. Therefore, it is imperative that you invest in quality camera equipment. You don’t need equipment that professional photographers use, but you should invest in quality items.

Do not treat this lightly: This is going to be the most important decision you’ll ever make, because you’ll need to determine how you’re going to use the pictures. If you’re going to create virtual tours, create brochures, and syndicate your listings on the net, then something in the 6 or 10 MP range is probably a good idea.

For those of you who want to be smart about it, a mid-range digital camera is the most economical option. For seasoned agents in the business, you will probably want to go higher, because the expectation is simply higher, even if you aren’t aware of it.

For those of you wanting a camera that can take wide-angle shots, you are better off with a non-compact camera where you can attach add-ons to the lens. You can get away without going to an SLR, although SLRs have dropped considerably over the past couple of years. Typically, this entails buying an adapter ring and the appropriate lens. Since I’m only pointing you in the right direction, you’ll need to take it upon yourself to research what cameras out there suit your needs, and what attachments you need. Professional camera outlets, such as Adorama, are useful and I’ve dealt with them in the past for my father’s business needs.

Your camera choice will need to factor in how comfortable or experienced you are in fiddling with the more advanced stuff. If you are wanting to control how your pictures look, in particular manipulating settings (flash, exposure, f-stop, etc.), the better your pictures tend to be—assuming you know what you’re doing. Don’t let me scare you off, however, as most cameras have an “auto” feature that usually covers most of it.

You want something that can take good pictures in low-light or natural-light conditions. I know that many people like using the flash, but flashes—particularly ones that aren’t calibrated properly—tend to wash out colors, cause the “flare” against mirrors or other reflective objects, and place emphasis on objects that shouldn’t be emphasized. Do remember that most of the time, the closest item to the lens or flash will always be the brightest object, given how light works.

On another subject: when buying a camera, you will need the accessories to go with it. These include a camera bag that can carry all the camera accessories (battery charger, extra battery, flash media), at least two memory cards in case you lose one. If you think you’re going to drop the camera, then you may want to find a protection plan that covers accidental damage. When thinking about warrantying the camera with a service plan, you will want to read over the terms of the plan first. Otherwise, it’s just as easier to buy another camera in the long run without it. Caveat emptor.

3. When are you taking the pictures?

It is important to take the pictures at the right time.

Optimally, you want to photograph the home and property when the following conditions are met, or nearly met.

• During a clear day, with very little clouds and great sunshine.
• When the house is presentable; you don’t want to take a picture of a house when they have Halloween decorations out on the lawn, or during a garage sale. Also, if the inside of the house is less-than-presentable, you probably don’t want to take shots of the interior. After all, these pictures will be posted in public spots, and the point of advertising is to get people interested in a property.
• When the least number of people are home. The more people around, the more difficult it is to take photos, and the more you inconvenience those who live there.
  • For instance, most folks have a least one car per person, so if there are four people home (two kids of driving age and two parents), there may be as many as four cars there. That means that there are cars in the driveway, or in the garage, and that they’ll have to be moved in order to take the proper photo.

4. Where are you going to be taking said pictures at?

When you’re listing a property, you’re not only selling the house, you’re selling the area. Therefore, it is important to take photos of the community or the areas nearby.

If a house is five minutes away from the river and beaches, then you should probably take a picture of the river and the beaches. Same goes for a property with a “gorgeous view of nature” from “its front door step” or “its balcony.” Thus, you should take pictures of the very sight that the homeowner would see, whether it would be of the mountains, the lake, or a natural sight. That’s what will likely sell a property.

5. How will you be using these pictures?

You need to keep in mind that different services have different needs and limitations. A magazine or newspaper ad will likely only allow you 1 photo. A MLS listing server may only allow you up to 8 or 10 photos. A virtual tour may allow you to have 20 to “unlimited” numbers of photos; “unlimited” is encased in quotations because it’s impossible to publish an infinite number of photos and be done with it, not to mention the fact that there is a limit, but most users never reach it, so it remains undisclosed to most. If you do it right, you may be able to stitch the photos together to create a panorama, particularly of exterior views such as waterfronts.

Let me touch on the virtual tour panorama topic here, since I’ve done it. It is not without some effort, but nothing worthwhile is rarely effortless. So let’s me begin by saying that services such as RealBiz360, allow their publishers to upload “high definition” photos. In these photos, users can zoom in and all that jazz. It’s nice, but I haven’t run into any real estate buyer (or seller) who cares about that kind of feature. Still, you need to keep in mind that “high definition” photography will be the future, so the clearer the picture… the better. And, at any rate, the resolution of your pictures will be downscaled when they are uploaded.

6. Why did you do any of the above?

I want to say that I needed a “why” question.

However, I need you to realize that you need to always analyze and question the decisions you make, because if you don’t, you’ll never improve. You’ll become stagnant and resistant to change. Yes, some change should be resisted, but that decision lies with you, and hopefully made with the help of your critical thinking skills and not on a mere whim. When doing anything, you need to answer the question of “why?”

Why did I buy that device? Why did I take the picture that way? Did I place myself in a home buyer’s shoes and see things through their eyes? Why should I do that? Why don’t I?

The best real estate professionals—or any sort of professional on any career path—tend to be able to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and figure out how their brain works. They find out what they want and then, switching over to the supplier mode, devise a means to deliver the consumer what they want and, at best, make money doing something they enjoy doing.

And a few other things…

I have a few other words of wisdom that I’ll impart:

• Do not pose in pictures or have someone pose in pictures being a “Vanna White.” There is absolutely no reason why someone should be “Vanna Whiting” appliances, pools or anything of the sort. Let me repeat the point ad absurdum: There should not be anyone in your photos, at all. The point of a photo is to show off a room, a feature, or an attribute you want people to know about. Having folks in a photo detracts from the subject of the photos.
• Do not take photos of stairways, hallways, or toilets. Unless the toilet is the Super-Deluxe Toilet with Automatic Bum Cleansing Features, it’s not worth a photo. Even if it were… still not worth the photo. Unless you have a toilet fetish. (Sadly, Google informs me that such a fetish exists. There’s no technical word for it yet, as far as I am presently aware.)
• Take tons of photos. Digital memory has increased in size, so why don’t you take more photos? We’re not in the 1980s where you had only 24 exposures on a roll of 35mm film. So, you don’t have to use every single photo you take, and it is nice to have a smattering of choices to choose from. Take photos from different vantage points, in different lighting conditions. Take a photo with a flash, and one in natural light. Be creative, but be creative with purpose.
• Make the property presentable, clean, and no clutter. Before you take photos of a property, you need to tell your sellers that it is important to have the home presentable. The less clutter on counter tops and in rooms, the better. The idea here is that the potential buyer should be able to visualize themselves in the home, since they are going to be the ones to live in it, should they choose to buy it. Should repairs need to be done, then the selling agent needs to inform their seller of the items that need repair.

That’s all I have for now. Feel free to send me any comments, questions, or concerns. I look forward to helping people—including myself—improve my skill sets!

There are a few basic ground rules to forwarding e-mails that I abide by, which I would like to share with the Internet folk. Depending on where you are aligned on the etiquette spectrum, you may find this to be an affirmation to already existing habits or a wake-up call to develop new ones. (Remember: The brainiacs from various universities say that it takes 28 days of doing something to develop a habit.)

1. No Blind Forwarding

“Blind forwarding” is the term I use to describe the process of forwarding an e-mail to someone without actually explaining why you’ve forwarded it. Most of the problems I’ve encountered stem from this behavior.

Just because an e-mail makes sense to you does not mean that it makes sense to the person you’re forwarding to. Therefore, you should at least do one of the following:

1. As briefly as possible, explain why you are forwarding the e-mail.
2. If you’re looking for something specific to be understood/executed/reviewed, note that you’re: a) looking for something specific, and b) specify what you’re looking for.

The above two help tremendously, particularly when forwarding an e-mail to multiple people!

2. Don’t Betray Confidences

When forwarding an e-mail, ensure that it doesn’t betray any confidences or give out an e-mail of someone who doesn’t want their e-mail given out. This causes problems for all parties involved and, ultimately, rectification of any situations that may arise from such stupidity only wastes time and energy.

3. Don’t forward an e-mail just to give someone’s e-mail address to another person.

I’ve seen people forward an e-mail to others just to give someone the original sender’s e-mail address. People who do this are the same people who poke snarling, salivating dogs with sharp sticks and then wonder why they have that dog’s teeth puncturing their neck.

So… Why does this happen? I believe it to be sheer laziness. Only those who actually do this can answer with any sincerity.

The solution: Merely compose a new e-mail that introduces the people to one another properly. “Hey Joe, this is Jane. Jane, this is Joe. Joe is a fluffer. Jane works in accounting. You two will hit it off splendidly. Au revoir.“

Hope that was educational. Or at least mildly entertaining.

Now I need to e-mail Jane from accounting. Have a splendid day!

Upon returning to Florida in the spring, I visited the Indian River Mall to find that the Starbucks—itself having been, in a previous life, a Barnie’s Coffee and Tea—near the food court was closed down. The signs on the outside had been removed, and you could tell it had been a Starbuck’s by the configuration of the holes and subtle lines that the signs left behind. Even through the dark windows, you could see the empty room and the naked counter. That was a bit sad, although there was a Starbuck’s right on the road in front of the Indian River Plaza, which was a good 10 minute or so walk from the mall. Not a total loss. Not as much as the next store I noticed.

In December (and into January), I saw these depressing signs that were inside the Vero Beach Waldenbooks:

Sunuvabitch...

This does hurt me a bit on a personal level because of my love of the printed word. I grew up on having a Waldenbooks in the mall I could go to.

While it wasn’t this specific one, I grew up with the one in my hometown of Manchester, Connecticut. I went there a few times a month as a tyke, brought there by my mother and grandmother. I would always walk into that store with some of my chore money (my father paid me a “wage” of $1/hr), pick up a science fiction book I wanted to add to my collection (either Star Trek, Star Wars or a comic) and walk out with a small, plastic white bag with “Waldenbooks” on each side.

I also met a few authors at my Manchester Waldenbooks—yes, I used that possessive adjective, deal with it. I remember getting my copy of Robert Greenberger‘s book, The Romulan Strategem, signed by Mr. Greenberger all those years ago.

It’s not that I’m not able to get my books elsewhere. I can. There’s a Books-A-Million in the small plaza to the east of the Indian River Plaza, next to the Publix. It has a bigger selection of books. It has its own little Joe’s Coffee shop. (Yes, it’s named Joe’s Coffee. Clearly, no relation.)

I could also go to the library, which I have thus far neglected doing since my return to Florida, but there’s something about owning a good book and having it on your bookshelf that is immensely satisfying. More than some trophy or worthless paper award to be placed on some wall.

And if I wanted to go the online route, I can go to Amazon and buy it there without paying sales taxes. But there’s something to be said about seeing a book on the shelf with portals to all those worlds. Worlds that groups of people took the time and energy under the exacting toll of immeasurable frustration to create and get published. There’s a process there that most people don’t realize. I’m all too familiar with getting something published, as I’ve been responsible for the creation of two books. All that pain and suffering that went into it, all the long hours of writing and revising… Most people give up.

However, I’m flying off on another tangent there, so let me regain some semblance of control.

You can buy your stuff online, and I’ve done that with DVD and CDs, as well as the occasional book. With books, I find that I enjoy the tactile sensation, to feel the weight of the book, to feel the edges of the pages as I flip through them. Then there’s the rich aroma of the paper that wafts from the pages and fills your nostrils, if you let it. It’s a wonderful smell and while the new books have that “book aroma,” I find that older books that are well kept have a richer smell… like aged wine tastes versus newer vintages.

There’s also the fact that you get to physically meet people in a bookstore and, perhaps, strike up a conversation with them. We can say that we have message boards, blogs, and other “social media” outlets, but there’s nothing that can replace our need for physical contact, even if it is a chat. You can’t mirror truthful facial expressions in emoticons, or hear someone’s laugh, or hear someone sigh over troubling content in a book… You just can’t.

And so I find myself melancholy at the prospect of a bookstore closing down, even if it is part of a chain. It saddens me because it reflects the economic woes of our times, as well as the inevitable change where more and more people flock to the internet for whatever tickles their fancy. It is yet another reminder that our technology and our lust for better/faster/stronger change has outpaced our hearts and the potential worthwhile abilities of the human race.

This is NOT the appearance of the Big Brother you should worry about.

Big Brother (or Big Sister, or even Big Sibling if we want to get P.C. about it) is a damning concept that has permeated our culture since the introduction of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Before the Internet numerous SF fans, conspiracy theorists, the counter-culture and cyberpunkoids have toyed with Big Brother as being the control mechanism of a totalitarian government or a large corporation.

That was the 20th century.

Here in the 21st century, we are faced with a more damning fact: anyone can assume the mantle of Big Brother in our lives. Living in the age of connectedness that we share today, thanks to cellular telephones and the Internet, we find ourselves gobsmacked by the possibility that we were too narrow-minded in the concept of an all-seeing, all-knowing force in our lives. I am not referring to a deity or deities here, however technology has made damned sure that they are capable of achieving feats of that stature.

If you mix the de-centralized nature of the Internet with entrepreneurial spirit, capitalism and someone with a few basic facts on you, someone—your neighbor, a mentally deranged person you’ve pissed off online, your ex, your boss(es), family, friends, nerdlingers—can find out most anything they want on you. Googling people you know is only the first step. There are now sites out there that can dig deeper than you had likely thought impossible. Lifehacker has a list of sites whose sole aim is to allow people to find out anything on anyone, regardless on how careful you believe you have been in guarding your personal information, even if you use those privacy controls in your social networking sites, such as Facebook.

Short of reading your mind and extracting genetic samplings from your body, these systems will pull up anything that been electronically entered: posts on old bulletin boards, newspaper clippings that have been digitized, public records (divorce filings, speeding tickets, etc.)Â and information from social networking sites. I am astonished that these public systems have yet to link into medical records, internal files kept on you by your employer, and the Social Security Administration, but that’s only a matter of time. Such systems already exist and are used by the government, and the private sector has access to these things as well, which makes you pause.

It’s scary, but inevitable and damning. The technology we employ in our daily lives has outpaced our hearts, our ethics, and any anachronistic concepts we have of privacy. You can’t stop information on you from getting out there, but there are ways to control the types and what information can be pulled up by these systems.

My friend Amy has a few suggestions on this front, and there are numerous resources available online to help control what information can be indexed on you. The aforementioned Lifehacker is a good stepping stone, as is the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

You can be scared, but don’t let it paralyze you. Take this as a lesson in paying attention and being proactive in your privacy and connected life.

Read the truth here:

1. AT&T on the 809 #
2. Snopes.com on the 809 #

They don’t syndicate things with vulgarisms in the title (which isn’t a bad thing, in and of itself) or, in fact, technical terms for genitalia. Like the “penis lantern“, which happens to be the 3,000th article on the English-language edition of Battlestar Wiki. I noticed this because the two blogs I’ve posted on BW and FM weren’t syndicated, which kinda pissed me off, seeing as “penis lantern” is a benign term and should have been syndicated, regardless.

I should also note that they didn’t syndicate my blog on Best Buy fucking over their employees by forcing them to off-the-clock searches or working through mandatory lunch breaks. This is because of the word “fuck” in the title.

Of course, it’ll be hilarious if this blog post gets syndicated, despite the use of the word “penis” in the body of this blog. This would only prove that people can manipulate BlogRush as so long as their blog’s titles are innocent and uncontentious, but the content is anything but thus.