Put an End to Zillow Listing Spoofing

In recent years, Zillow has become one of the most ubiquitous platforms for homebuyers. When passing by a house with a for sale sign, we no longer get out to “grab a brochure” instead, we just look to our smartphones and “Zillow it” for quick information on pricing, taxes, and schools. Never before have buyers had so much information available at their fingertips.

For sellers, Zillow is a great platform to get out in front of millions of prospective buyers for little or no cost. Technology enables people to virtually tour your house from their smartphones without wasting any of your Sunday afternoon with unnecessary showings. It even gives you an early idea of what you can expect to receive for your home based on your “Zestimate,” which I gather is the floor of what you could expect on the open market, or the minimum price in which you should feel confident receiving for your home, in many cases.

Whenever an “open” platform offers so many benefits for little to no cost, there will always be people that take advantage of it, bending the rules to further their agenda. My wife and I call this “Zillow spoofing,” and it’s a real nuisance for homebuyers.

Spoofing is a nefarious act of creating communication to make it appear it came from a different source, hoaxing or tricking someone into believing they are receiving communication from someone else. This tactic is used often in social engineering, making you believe you have received an official communication from someone of importance. In phone networks, this can be called phreaking, and makes it appear that you are receiving a phone call from a disguised number.

In Zillow, I consider spoofing to occur when a builder or listing agent intentionally misrepresents the address or coordinates of a home or homesite in order to appear in the search results of popular or desirable areas in a metropolitan area. Today, I came across a listing for a new subdivision 30 minutes away from the area in which I was looking. This is a nuisance as homebuyers must sort through the listing to determine if it is “really” where the map says it is.

What’s tough about this grey area is that the listings are real–the houses or homesites are for sale/contract, and they could be easily corrected to show their “true” location. And, more often than not, they’re being posted by legitimate brokers and builders. Unlike other scams and fake listings, these are seemingly benign. However, in aggregate, they can really waste time homebuyers’ time “vetting” each listing to see if it is location accurate.

So what can we do about it? Unfortunately, there is no easy way to report spoofing on Zillow. Users are given a menu of options to report listings, although I don’t think that these categorically fall under spam. Perhaps that’s how I should report them. In either case, this behavior needs to stop and Zillow needs to create a system of accountability for builders and listing agents that abuse the privilege of using their platform.

Do you work for Zillow and have any positive assurance? Are you a homebuyer bothered by this? Leave a comment below and thanks for reading.

Adventures in modifying my child’s toys to lower their volume

For Christmas, my son received a number of toys that were manufactured in China. Many of these included batteries, lights, and very loud sounds. Some of the sounds though, were louder than expected, and I feared may damage his hearing. So, to preserve my sanity (and my son’s hearing) I decided to take them apart to bring peace to our household (or at least some gentler sound effects and songs).

To accomplish this, I purchased a small gauge wire stripper, a kit of resistors on Amazon as well as some shrink wrap tubing. Using a pair of sidecutters, I cut one of the wires connecting the speaker to the PCB, stripped both ends and soldered a 100 ohm resister (remembering to slide the heat shrink tubing before the second solder). This significantly lowered the volume of the toy and restored peace and peace of mind, knowing that my son’s toy is now less likely to damage his hearing and my attitude.

Leaving Facebook Behind

Today marks seven years since I deleted my Facebook account. Since then, I’ve also deleted my Twitter account, leaving me merely with an Instagram and LinkedIn presence. While I don’t miss Facebook, I’m sometimes frustrated by the over reliance by organizations and businesses on its use as a community platform. This creates a barrier to communication with neighborhood groups and the like, a small price to pay, but nonetheless a sad note for those not using a specific product.

In my mind, a sound digital community should be established on a platform-agnostic framework, welcoming everyone regardless of their social network preferences. Sometime along the lines of WordPress, which is freely available to all would be a great solution to this problem. Unfortunately, many don’t see it as a problem at all.

Connecting the Dots

One of the great things about the Internet is its ability to help you discover connections between seemingly desperate things. This morning I was aimlessly scrolling through YouTube, looking for inspiration on a new project I’m starting. Along the way, I encountered this video interviewing a child talented with computers in 1979:

Elements of the interview seemed familiar and I quickly realized that this was the source of samples for the opening track, Youth, on the album Kids, by The Midnight:

It’s always fun to discover how computers can help humans connect the dots.

As we navigate this unprecedented moment in history, some of us have been given the opportunity to pause our lives and look deeply into what it is that brings us happiness and success. For me, at least 2-3 months away from my career will give me the chance to evaluate what I have been doing to determine if it is what I want to continue doing.

What are my strengths? What am I naturally inclined at doing that I should pursue more seriously? What are the things that I enjoy doing that I could profit from?

Maybe connecting those dots will lead us all to something new and exciting.

The project that I’m working on is a podcast for hospitality and travel workers to share their stories and help others learn to grow their careers. While the industry takes a pause through the pandemic, this will enable professionals to stay connected through stories of others and hopefully give them hope for the future of their careers and the future of travel.

The project will allow me to connect a few of my favorite dots: producing multimedia content, being creative, sharing stories, and connecting people with others of mutual value.

What dots are you hoping to connect?

Streaming Providers Need a Holiday Music Toggle

Whether you prefer Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, or otherwise, the frequency in which you listen to songs and the actions you take to identify what you like drive what these services recommend for you in the future. When it comes to selecting genres of music, particular styles, or artists, this can come in real handy though algorithmic recommendations. No longer must you rely on the programming director of your local terrestrial radio station. Now, your music is curated to match your tastes and preferences.

While it’s great to have a computer suggest, or automatically play next, there is one type of music that can really throw you off your groove: out-of-season holiday music.

If you’ve ever been jamming along to Empire of the Sun in mid-January, only to be bombarded by Mannheim Steamroller, you know what I mean. Immediately, you feel regret for every “liking” that song, or even placing it on your “Holiday Playlist.” This morning, I learned that a friend refuses to play holiday music from his personal account to prevent this very scenario from unfolding.

Like other music, though, we do have preferences. Brian Setzer’s Christmas Spectacular may not be for everyone, and others may not be into Wrapping Paper by the Waitresses. We have preferences for our music during the holidays, just as we do during other times of the year. So, these algorithms for suggested programming should be helpful then, too. But what about in the off-season, the other 10 months of the year?

To solve this, I propose that all digital music contain a binary filter in its meta data: “Holiday Music.” This will allow listeners to toggle between “Holiday Only, No Holiday, and Some Holiday” as the wish, confident that Lizzo won’t interrupt their Christmas cocktail party, and Nat King Cole won’t crash their beech vibe the following spring.

What do you think? Does holiday music ever invade your music queue at the wrong time of the year? How do you cope? Leave a comment below.

Flying My First Drone

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For my 30th birthday, my parents decided to tap into the joy of childhood by purchasing me something that has been nothing but pure fun: my first drone.

This Chinese quadcopter packs a ton of technology into an incredibly small package at an alarmingly reasonable price. This Hubsan x4 Quadcopter includes a 480p digital video camera, 6-axis control and enough battery power for approximately 7 minutes of flight on each charge. The included wireless controller offers a “Playstation-esque” feel but offers superb control of the aircraft.

It is absolutely amazing to me that this aircraft, which weighs 0.98 oz (28g), can pack a payload of 16GB of memory. The pace in which technology has improved in my short lifetime is unbelievable. When I was 10 years old, it would take a shoulder-mounted VHS camcorder and a stack of VHS tapes to record this much video.

Today, while my wife and her friend took our dog to the park, I decided to take to the skies for my first outdoor flight session. Living in Dallas, wind is always an issue, so today my focus was on controlling the aircraft under steady winds, and I must say that it takes an incredible amount of focus just to keep the drone aloft.

With about 45 minutes of flying time under some moderate wind conditions I’m definitely glad that I am starting with such a small and inexpensive aircraft. This drone has taken a beating. Falling from 100 ft in the sky to the ground with not even a bent prop, this drone is prefect for the curious or novice pilot (like me).

If you’re curious about the world of unmanned aircraft and want to try your hand at piloting a drone, definitely start small, but with a high quality aircraft. Get used to adjusting the trim, calibrating the gimbals and keeping the aircraft oriented with your controls. Try to practice “hovering” and keeping the aircraft as steady as possible before you learn to zip it across the sky.

As you learn, you will undoubtedly “over-control” as you panic when the aircraft does the opposite of what you intend. These over corrections will likely cause for an abrupt crash landing making you glad you decided to start the hobby with an inexpensive aircraft.

After a few more months of mastering this quadcopter, I think I might be interested in investing in a more sturdy aircraft that will be less affected by the wind with a sharper camera and more precise controls. Until then, I’m going to work on getting my unmanned wings and snagging some great grainy video in the process.

Next time you’re bored, go fly a kite drone. It’s great to feel like a kid again.

Jump Starting My Electric Car

Just like your conventional internal combustion engine (ICE), my electric car has a standard 12V car battery that powers electronics when the main power supply is deactivated. Also like your car, this battery is susceptible to failure, as it proved to me on a cold Sunday morning.

As I was getting ready to run an errand on Superbowl Sunday, I was stunned when I went to unlock the door on my Nissan LEAF and nothing happened. I tried pressing the buttons on the key fob as well as the proximity sensor on the on the door handle. Nothing.

I pulled the conventional key out of the key fob and assumed that the key fob had a low battery. After sitting down in the driver’s seat, I pressed the power button. Nothing. No startup sound, no flutter of lights, no “No Key” warning light flashing on the dash. Complete silence.

I wondered if the car may have somehow discharged in the one day that I didn’t drive it, so I tried to release the charge port lid and realized that there was no way to release the lid without power to the vehicle. Sounds crazy, right?

After researching multiple web forums, I came to an alarming solution: I needed to jump start my electric car.

How a car with 24kWh of power packed under its chasis could not power its own on-board computer was beyond me. That 12V “accessory” battery under the hood was the only thing preventing me from getting on my way. After a short call to the roadside assistance, a technician was able to come and give me a “jump” to provide enough power to the 12V battery to initiate the on-board computer and bring the car “online.”

After the jump, I drove the car around to recharge the 12V battery for twenty minutes or so, hoping that the drive would put enough energy back onto the 12V to allow for an easy departure to work the next morning. Luckily, this morning when I left the house the car started with absolutely no problem.

I brought the car to the dealership after work and learned that the only certified LEAF technician that they have had called off for the day, so right now I am waiting for one of their ICE technicians to check the 12V battery, which I explained to to the service adviser, is no different from any other conventional car battery.

Even with the most sophisticated technology, there is always an Achilles’s heel. For your 4G smartphone, it might be the strength of your cell signal, or for your tablet it might be the absence of a WiFi connection. In my case, a completely battery powered car, fully charged with 24kWh of electricity couldn’t start, simply because of a failed 12V battery…

How to Get a New Phone for Free

As a technology enthusiast, I always like to have the latest and greatest devices. However, keeping up with the latest tech can be an expensive addiction.

Although most of us are only eligible to upgrade or trade-out our smartphones every year or two, there are a ton of things you can do with your current device to make it seem like a whole new phone.

Thanks to operating system updates (Android Jelly Bean/KitKat, iOS 5) software developers deliver a periodic fresh new look and feel to our hardware while showering us with new and innovative features. But, beyond that, there are a bunch of things we can do to declutter of phones and make them work for us.

Just the other day I was trying to record a video on my Samsung Galaxy S III when I realized that the audio quality was horrible. I returned the device to the store where they swapped it out for a refurbished model. Some of you might think that carrying a Galaxy S III puts me way behind the times, but when you think about it, I have most of the features of the newest smartphone, but with the added ability of having removable storage and swappable batteries (something you cannot do with the Google Nexus or iPhone).

A Factory Reset can breathe new life into your phone. Over time your device gets worn down by tons of applications, widgets and background processes that can chew through your data plan and your battery consumption without you even knowing it. Within a few months your device can get slow, bogged down and just not as fresh and fast as it was out of the box.

By backing up all of your contacts, photos, videos and apps (best done by using a Google account to store your contacts and Autobackup to store your photos and videos) you can easily reset your phone and get a fresh start in just a few minutes. The advantages of doing this are that you can review the apps on your phone, how you have your home screen configured and make your phone what you want it to be.

Take time to organize your device. By putting the apps and contacts that you use most at your fingertips, you will find that using your phone efficiently can save you a ton of time and extra thumb presses. As you can see from my updated home screen, I’ve put all of the things that I use most in my system tray. That way, as soon as I unlock my phone with one or two taps, I can get exactly what I need.

One of the annoying default settings of most phones is that when you install an app, it automatically places an icon for that app on one of your home screens. This can be really frustrating with Android, as it will just crowd your unused space with icons. By turning off that option, you can take control of what you want to keep on your home screens.

Use widgets to take a quick glance. Sorry iOS users, this one is only for Android. By using multiple home screens and some of the great widgets available, you can quickly browse the information you need from your favorite or most used app without having to load it each time.

Sorting your applications into folders can also help you quickly find what you’re looking for without trying to recite the alphabet each time you’re looking for an app.
Functionality trumps design (at least for me). Most of the time, when I see people post screen captures from their phones, I see beautiful background images and aesthetically pleasing icons and clocks, but what I don’t see is functionality. When I pull my phone out of my pocket, I want to complete a task as quickly as possible. Whether it is making a call to a love one (I use favorites in Phone), launching an app (sorted by folders) or glancing at my calendar or e-mail (widgets), I like to keep my phone set up to work for me and make my life easier. After all, that’s why we spend some much on this technology, to make our lives simpler.
After resetting your phone, reorganizing your apps and ridding your phone of the ones you never need, giving yourself a new background/lock screen, you’ll feel like you have a brand new device. The best part? It was all completely free.
If you have tips on how to make your phone work for you or how you give yourself an Android makeover, leave them in the comments below. I’d love to see what you’re doing to make your phone even better!

Safecast Sensors Track Radiation Levels Around the World

Safecast

Wondering whether or not it’s a good idea to move into that house next to the old nuclear power facility? Well, believe it or not, there’s an app for that.

Fellow +Google Glass Explorer +Chris Sewell tipped me off on a new open-source project called +Safecast which is centered around collecting information on radiation levels in communities around the world to increase citizen awareness.

The project took off in April of 2011, just one month and one day after the chain reaction resulting from a 9.0 earthquake hit Japan, completely crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

According to the information on the website about the various devices available to collect and share the data, only 117 have been deployed in the field so far. You can learn more here.

My First Days with Google Glass

This is part 1 of a 3 part series.


A couple of months ago, you could have called me a skeptic. I didn’t really see the value in paying $1,500 and a trip to New York or San Francisco for something that was still in beta. If anything, I thought Google should be paying us to wear it. I watched some of the first explorers and noticed the issues they were dealing with (poor battery life, equipment failure, etc.). I wondered why anyone would want to spend so much money on something that had such limited functionality.


When the #ifihadglass campaign initially rolled out, I thought it was a really great idea, but felt I would need some groundbreaking idea in order to get an initial invite. As it turned out, you just had to have a somewhat good idea, $1,500 in your pocket and the ability to travel to NYC or SFO to pick them up. I watched a lot of my connections from Google+ score the initial invitations and watched with envy as they traveled to the closest coast to get fitted for their Glass.

As the Explorer program with +Google Glass continued to grow, I watched more and more people taking the device out in public, testing the sociological response form wearing Glass and attempting new and different applications. On the surface though, it just looked like a bunch of geeks (sorry, +Robert Warren) posting pictures of their driveway with the current temperature superimposed over it—something that could be easily accomplished with a smartphone five years ago.

As time rolled by, I convinced myself that getting Glass wouldn’t be worth it for it. I made myself think that I really didn’t need it and wouldn’t be able to do anything worthwhile with it. Then, out of nowhere, my good friend+Derek Ross gave me the opportunity to get in. No longer would I need to have to fly to one of Google’s offices to get fitted. All I needed to do was provide my payment information and wait by the mailbox.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t force myself to pay $1,500 for something that seemed so useless to me.

Then one day everything changed. An acquaintance I met online, +Robert Warren, scored a pair of glass and we joked for months about me trying it out. Finally, we met for dinner with +Shaker Cherukuri and afterwards he let me try it on. I was absolutely amazed. I could not believe the clarity of the display, the clarity of the sound, the speed of the device and the many purposes that he was able to demonstrate in my short demo. In just a few minutes he turned a skeptic into a believer.

That night I got online and tried to turn over every rock I could find on the Internet to get myself an invitation code. Finally, after “begging” to the Glass Gods, +Chris Pick and +Kelvin Williams came along and threw me the invitation that got me into the Explorers program. I immediately jumped online and consulted with my family on which pair to buy. We decided Shale would be the best fit with my wardrobe and to “blend” in perhaps more than Sky or Tangerine.

So, now after a few days I’m starting to formulate some opinions on this new tool (not a toy) and how it is going to be beneficial for my life and my career…

This is the first of three posts which will tell you more about my experience. I wanted to start out with the backstory. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next part of the series and photos from today’s Glass Meetup.