S10 netbook

Yesterday I ordered a new lenovo s10 netbook, but it came preinstalled with windows xp. My plan is to install mac os x leopard over xp. It can be done, but involves an iso downloadable from piratebay and a utilities file. The torrent is only at 26.6% so I am still in the proverbial holding pattern for the installation. I'll blog my s10 updates once 100% is obtained.

New Blog Skin

Well, I finally decided and made time to reskin my blog. It's very "twitter" or "identi.ca" like which are both embedded in my day-to-day personal and work processes. I plan to create new pages for my basketball coaching, real estate projects, and technology hacks in the coming two weeks.

Definition of the RealWeb

RealWeb

The RealWeb is comprised of agents, applications, or humans exchanging, publishing, subscribing, or transferring real estate related information over the internet asynchronously or in real-time.

2009 New Year's Resolutions

Here's my list of resolutions for 2009:

• Finish 501(c)3 charity filing


• Less if/then's in conversations


• Post to blog at least once a week


• Less sweets


• Learn python and django


• And continue to change the real estate industry

My online pledge beta version

Below is a working version of the online pledge I will be make beginning 2009.

Public comment is open so fire away. :)

Remeta President's RealPledge

I, Corey Leong, pledge:

to perform all of my duties and responsibilities as President in a professional, efficient, and timely manner,

to professionally represent the Remeta Association, its members, and the real estate industry during my tenure in office,

to abide by the association's rules, regulations, and policies at all times,

to build and foster trusting reputations for the association's members, citizens, community, and the real estate industry,

to build and provide an open platform for members and citizens to use and communicate,

to provide current and relevant education to the association's members and citizens on technology standards, specifications, and tools

and to remain neutral, fair, and consistent in all of my association and industry work.

My New Inspiration

Not that I needed anymore motivation to work harder, but having read this story title says it all, "Tech will only take you so far' in real estate".
http://www.inman.com/news/2008/07/25/tech-will-only-take-you-so-far-in-real-estate

I am amazed that a 'technology' conference like Inman offers speakers who offer negative views to audiences regarding technology. I have no qualms defending technology in the real estate industry.

I just saw the movie "Invincible" and in one of the scenes Mark Wahlberg hides a piece paper which basically says that he'll never amount to anything. He uses that piece of paper for inspiration.

I now have mine. :)

Defriending MySpace's "Tom" for Security

Being a hacker at mind, is blessing and a burden at the same time.  So with my hacker's hat on today, I was contemplating the benefits and risks of being a MySpace Friend with the Co-Founder "Tom".

When I first joined MySpace, I found myself with one and only friend, Tom, and I thought cool at least I have one friend to start out.  I later figured out and after reading "MySpace for Dummies"
that all newbies are friended by Tom.  At first, I thought this was a nice touch since other social netoworks such as Facebook and Bebo do not offer a "default" friend.

But after thinking about this "friend" with my hacker hat back on, my thought is of a potential spamming and security risk.  If all MySpacers are friends with Tom, then a minimal effort is needed for a spammer or hacker to refer to Tom's friends list to send out spam messages or spam friend requests.  What this means is that everyone is two degrees from everyone else with Tom being the proxy or the friend in the middle.

So I contemplated this type of network within a network and decided to defriend Tom.  If a spammer or hacker wants to find me, they'll need to at least search for me or traverse a group list, which are many to say the least, and then spam or friend request me.  This I believe is a preventative security layer or measure for my MySpace profile.

So do I recommend this action to others?  Sorry Tom, but my answer is yes. If you can do without the MySpace updates then defriend.  Nothing personal Tom.

E-mail is an absolute wasteland because of spam and you never know who's lurking or wants to sell you something on the MySpace network.  Let's hope MySpace does not become a wasteland, too.

As always,  the problem is choice and the choice is yours.  To friend "Tom or not to friend "Tom".  That is the question.  You decide.