New York State maintains online information and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding both, the Excelsior Pass and Excelsior Pass Plus (proof of Covid-19 vaccination) apps. While you may not have an immediate need to know more about the different versions of the Excelsior Pass, I would encourage you to take some time to…
Read MoreThis month’s COVID-19 “authoritative information” page is the CDC’s “COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot” webpage. Since many (particularly older) Realtors were vaccinated early on, and now there is a lot of talk regarding “Booster shots” and “third doses,” I thought now would be a good time to point everyone to a CDC.gov webpage that discusses these…
Read MoreThis month I am going to start by focusing attention on New York State’s Excelsior Pass, and Excelsior Pass Plus webpage and related/companion Smartphone app. The blocks of descriptive text below come from the following webpage… https://epass.ny.gov/home (I suggest you bookmark this webpage on all your computers and devices.) What is Excelsior Pass? Excelsior Pass…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—Realtors view drones and cyber security as the most impactful emerging technologies to their business, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors released on Aug. 3. NAR's 2021 Technology Survey examined NAR members' current tech usage and attitudes about the future of real estate technology. In addition to drones (37%) and…
Read MoreBack on June 24th, 2021, Microsoft unveiled its next operating system “Windows 11.” Although this new operating system is not scheduled to become available until this fall, Microsoft has announced the minimum computer hardware specifications/requirements for this new version of Windows. As I am writing this, Microsoft has not yet formally released its “PC Health…
Read MoreDid you know that in many cases you can send a Smartphone user a text message by e-mail? If this is news to you and you would like to learn more about it, please review the following article that I found at digitaltrends.com titled “How to send a text message from your e-mail account.” Here…
Read MoreIn my experience, most computer users (myself included) do not fully utilize their computer’s mouse and/or touchpad capabilities. Since mouse and touchpad settings are usually hidden from view, they often remain unknown and unused (out of sight, out of mind). To help you discover all that your mouse and touchpad has to offer the following…
Read MoreWhen it comes to mute buttons on computers, they are often found on a computer’s keyboard and are usually configured to mute audio that is playing from speakers. However, these days, increasing numbers of people are using audio and video conferencing applications that sometimes do not provide a quick and easy way for users to…
Read MoreOften the help you need can be found at HGAR.com! When was the last time you explored (or re-explored) the site? There’s helpful information, news, resources and more to be (re)discovered. If you don’t have the time or interest in doing a deep dive at the site, consider at least visiting (and bookmarking) the following…
Read MoreIt’s time for some friendly reminder nudges... 1) Is it time to back up your computer(s) and other devices? 2) Is it time to check for operating system and software/app updates? 3) Is it time to do some computer and other device maintenance activities? 4) When was the last time you ran a full antivirus/malware…
Read MoreHappy New Year! Before jumping back into things, as usual, I want to first mention some random, but exciting and consequential topics that I've been following, and would encourage you to consider following as well. The topics are: Quantum Computing; Protein Folding; Artificial Intelligence (a.k.a. "AI"); Augmented Reality (a.k.a. "AR"); Solid-State Batteries; and CES 2021…
Read MoreImagine you are a sales manager who spent the last 10 minutes reading an article that discussed some helpful sales tips. If you decide to send the article to 10 others, about 100 minutes of reading time will cumulatively be invested by all who received your message. If you continue to send articles to others,…
Read MoreWASHINGTON—CoStar Group Inc. reported on Sunday that it had reached an agreement to acquire Homesnap, Inc. for $250 million in cash. Homesnap is an industry-leading online and mobile software platform that provides user-friendly applications to optimize residential real estate agent workflow and reinforce the agent-client relationship. More than 300,000 agents nationwide use the application an…
Read MorePhrase Express (Windows, Mac & iOS) is one of my favorite and most used software applications. I use the application to help me quickly insert commonly used text(s) into e-mails, text messages, documents, online posts, and just about anywhere I need to enter text. Sometimes I use Phrase Express to help me insert as little…
Read MoreIf you live in an area where your mobile phone's reception is weak or unreliable, you may be able to improve things by using your phone's "Wi-Fi calling" feature. Fortunately, most mobile phones have a Wi-Fi calling feature built-in, but unfortunately, it's not always enabled by default. If you're unfamiliar with Wi-Fi calling and would…
Read MoreComputer file management can be challenging! For example, what can you do if you want a file to exist in multiple locations (folders), but you don't want to create and manage duplicate files. The following links will lead you to articles that will introduce you to file labeling/tagging and symbolic links, which might be a…
Read MoreARROYO GRANDE, CA—The Board of Managers of the National Broker Portal, a joint venture between Broker Public Portal (BPP) and Homesnap, announced on Sept. 9 that Joseph Rand of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate|Rand Realty of Nanuet has been named executive director of the Broker Public Portal with Homesnap. Rand will remain the Chief…
Read MoreMost popular web browsers now use "tabs." Web browser tabs enable you to have multiple webpages loaded within a single window and easily switch between them. An underutilized tab-related feature that you should familiarize yourself with is the ability to "pin" tabs. When you pin web browser tabs, they become locked so that they stay…
Read MoreEditor’s Note: With this column, John Vrooman has logged 20 years as the Computer Technology columnist for Real Estate In-Depth. Siri is the name of the voice-controlled personal assistant that's available on Apple devices that run iOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS. Although Siri has been around for a decade now, it's still underutilized by many.…
Read More"Googling" for answers to questions is common and can often be achieved. However, there are times when a question needs to be further qualified and explained. When that situation arises, I would suggest you consider asking your question(s) at Reddit.com and/or Quora.com. Both sites are wide-ranging in focus, so most questions can likely be answered…
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