Todd Clarke's Technology Corner v2.0

Reminiscent of an ACME device from the Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon, my local Lowe’s hardware store now offers a DIY key maker.

Known as the Minute Key, the very visual and stand alone key maker is an attention getter!

The process is pretty simple – insert your key, select the key copy (comes in many interesting designs) and insert your credit card – the machines makes your key in less than a minute!

Of course, our family loves anything that promotes a QR Code (for more info).

We recently moved our internet service provider from Comcast (which has promised 10 mbs service)

to Qwest/Century Link which promised 36 megabit service

for an effective savings of $200/month. The only downside? 3 year contract.

Includes some interesting items like a dual screen Android ereader, iPods, bluetooth presenters/mice, etc.

Click here
for more info: http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/sys/3454545283.html

Not mentioned on the list is this portable projector – http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/sys/3450432924.html

and Todd Clarke customized MacbookPro (2010) with 1 terrabyte drive + DVD or 2 terrabyte drives – $1,500+any software you want me to install/config.

I discovered this fabulous program called Wordle that shows the strength of your words from your blog, website, text, etc.

The graphic below is the top text from this tech blog in 2011:

Thanks to Kelle Senye at the Apartment Association of NM for sharing this resource!

Todd Clarke's ideal office setup taken with iPhone 4s

Todd Clarke's ideal office setup

Todd Clarke's ideal office setup

Todd Clarke's ideal office setup

Todd Clarke's ideal office setup

I have been pursuing my ideal office for decades and this arrangement is the closest I have come to a nirvana of office productivity.

What you see here includes 7000 gigabytes (7 terabytes) of storage, 9 screens, 4 computers all controlled by one keyboard and mouse sitting on an Ikea desk. http://www.ikea.com/
Additional equipment on deck includes 2 iPads, one Kindle fire, one iPhone, a Fujitsu Scansnap S510 scanner (for going paperless), a Brother PT-2430PC labeler and of course the all-important Aeron chair.
Most of the monitors are 22” to 24” Samsung’s with a 22” Samsung USB Driven monitor a Phillips Boom Boom monitor and a Mimo 7” USB driven monitor. The desktop computers are redundant setups with a physical keyboard/mouse switch and Multiplicity software that ties them together with the MacbookAir, and the MacMini.

The computers are task driven and run software during the day based on their portability. Starting left working right they include:

I have found this setup to be very efficient. The two HP desktops run jobs that take a long time – like backups or print runs, or they are used for big projects we have going – stuff that I want to leave up (like maps). The Mac mini is used mostly for coding apps for the iPhone/iPad. The MacbookAir is my main day to day machine – so its running email, contact management, quickbooks, and document management. It is configured in such a way that on a moments notice I can pull its plug and dash out to a meeting.

The glass wall you see to the left of my desk is a 8’ wide x 4’ tall white board that we write on and/or tape things to as we work through projects .

How is your office configured?

One of my favorite blogs – Lifehacker.com has a great gallery of office setups – including this mobile one or thi sone in a barn – and this map shows where everyone is located that has made a contribution to Lifehackers Workspace show and tell.

Just a few days after I posted this article, I came across this showcase of minimalist office setups.

OR, using Groups effectively on Facebook.

As someone who has covered, spoken and taught courses on social networking, I can tell you this the fastest evolving part of the internet today. Facebook membership is rumored to be over 750 million people, or 20% of all of the business people on the internet today.

During the last few years I have seen mildly ineffective to downright disastrous uses of social networking, and the successful uses are fewer and far between.

Today I would like to focus on one of that success by focusing on a local Facebook group page that grew its membership from 30 to 15,000 and experienced over 40,000 posts in one weeks time.

The group Remember when in Albuquerque… had a simple concept – encourage local Albuquerque’s to share their memories of by gone places, people, and events.

The original idea came from Laura Reynolds, a Realtor in Las Cruces, who came across a Facebook group that allowed people who grew up in Ft. Worth to share memories. Laura suggested to her husband that he start a group about Albuquerque.

Steve started the group, Remember when in Albuquerque and quickly had 30 members. As those members started to tell their friends, and started posting their Albuquerque, memories, growth started to accumulate exponentially, and Steve requested a handful of us help administer (myself included).

I kept track twice a day of the growth of the group:

While the occasional commercial does popup on the group and there has been some sniping about deleted posts, the group has continued to grow as more people share their memories about Albuquerque.

Although many people know that four generations of my family has lived and worked in Albuquerque, many don’t know that I am an Albuquerque history buff and have a large collection of old photos, postcards and books. What better venue to share these? As I shared, others chimed in, and my “friends” counter increased by another 15% or so. (No, I don’t know all of them, but if they love Albuquerque history as much as I do, why would I tell them no?)

The group has received recent coverage from the local to TV new on KRQE as

As well as a front page article in the Albuquerque Journal:

(c) Albuquerque Journal 2011

Is this a short term fad, or a long term trend?

For now, I would say long term trend. Although Facebook doesn’t share average time spent on any one group, a common expression from group members is how much fun they’ve had strolling down memory lane, and how much of their day has flown by.

Even after growth in the group stabilized at 15,000 (or so members), the media coverage has exposed the group to new people who are asking to join, creating that ever increasing spiral of increasing exposure, which is truly any marketers dream.

All in all, I’d label this a “sticky” success.

* This article is also posted on our sister blog “Confessions of a Commercial Real Estate Consultant”

I have two different internet webcams running – one at our cabin in Northern NM (yes that snow is from this last weekend) and our live/work space.

With prices on these camera’s dropping to less than $200, I’d highly recommend installing them anywhere you need to keep an eye on things.

Social networking companies are pushing the envelope on advertising mediums – but here is a new one – your house!

Thanks to Gizmodo.com for sharing from Adzookie.com which is a UK based company that is offering to pay homeowners mortgages if they let them paint their house with advertisements.

Although the Gizmodo posting indicates the advertisement is only in UK, when I went to their website it looks like they are up and running in the USA as well!

Very excited – as of 5 minutes ago, our iPhone app to help client’s calculate their property taxes for commercial properties in Bernalillo County went “live” in the iTunes store! It is only 99 cents, and if you provide us feedback to improve version 2 and leave feedback, I’ll gladly send you a buck!

If you own a commercial property in Bernalillo County and you would like to compare your property’s value against the resolved cases from 2010, click here – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/taxessor/id419811562?mt=8 to try it out.

The App is only $.99 and if you leave us a review and email me feedback at tclarke@nmapartment.com so we can improve version 2, I’ll gladly refund you a buck.

Thanks to Mark and Jamii at SWCP for making this happen.

Support for the app can be found here – http://www.taxessor.com .