Technology - Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips

Use Aluminum Foil to Strengthen Wi-Fi Signal

Researchers at Dartmouth University have discovered that you can improve a wireless network’s range and increase Wi-Fi security by using aluminum foil as a reflector on and around a router’s antenna. “With a simple investment of about $35 and specifying coverage requirements, a wireless reflector can be custom built to outperform antennae that cost thousands of dollars,” Xia Zhou, an assistant professor at Dartmouth, told technology news

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Glitch in Messaging Apps May Expose Calls

A glitch in nearly 700 iOS and Android apps could expose your private messages and calls.Appthority, a mobile threat protection firm, discovered the flaw in the development of apps often used for communications by businesses. It published a report on its findings Thursday. The firm believes up to 180 million Android users could be affected by the hack, dubbed “Eavesdropper.” An unknown number of iOS devices also are at risk.The vulnerabilit

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REALTORS: Trust Stamp Is Now a Free Safety Tool for REALTORS®

Trust Stamp, an identification authenticity tool that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies to verify prospective clients’ identities, is now available to REALTORS® free of charge as part of the National Association of REALTORS®’ investment in the startup through its Second Century Ventures technology fund.The tool is intended to improve the safety of real estate professionals, using software that scours public recor

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Twitter Officially Doubles Its Character Count

Twitter's approximately 330 million users can now send tweets on that are up to 280 characters in length, Twitter announced Tuesday. That is double its previous limit of 140 characters.In September, Twitter tested longer tweets on a small group of users. The company says they found those with an expanded character limit spent less time editing their tweets, spent more time on Twitter, and interacted with more users on the social network."We saw

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Protect Your Email From Latest Hacking Trend

Many real estate professionals have become keenly aware of targeted wire fraud scams that include email impersonation tactics. A growing avenue cyber criminals are using to get highly sensitive financial data is known as spear phishing, according to Asaf Cidon, vice president of content security for Barracuda Networks, a data protection company.Spear phishing is a highly targeted and researched personal attack that is difficult to detect. Ha

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Battery-Powered Homes Are Becoming Reality

Your clients may one day live in a battery-powered home, and that’s getting closer to reality for homeowners in New York, California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, and Arizona. Many municipalities in those states are revamping their electrical grids and turning to batteries to make them more efficient. But the average homeowner likely won’t notice the change. Most plans call for batteries to be tucked into a sort of neighborhood junction bo

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Cities Vie for New Amazon Headquarters

Amazon’s announcement that it plans to build a second headquarters in the U.S. has sent cities frantically submitting applications to try to be the chosen second home to the online retailer. Amazon plans to announce the new location next year.The reason cities are in a rush to submit proposals is that Amazon’s new headquarters promises to bring up to 50,000 new workers with an average salary topping $100,000 all over the next 10 to 15 years.

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Yahoo Users Beware All Accounts Are Hacked

Cyber security officials are warning Yahoo users to refresh their account passwords immediately and change their security questions and answers. And don’t do it only on Yahoo but also on all of your other accounts that use information similar to your Yahoo account.A 2013 hack of Yahoo accounts potentially stole the information of up to 3 billion users. That is triple the number of users Yahoo had first reported.The company says scammers are now

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Scope of Equifax Breach Widens Further

Some 2.5 million more people than originally reported were affected by the recent Equifax data breach, the credit bureau said Monday. The estimate of the number of Americans whose personal information was potentially exposed is now 145.5 million—the largest hack on record. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which was hired by Equifax to investigate the hack, found the additional compromised accounts in a forensic review.The information hackers were a

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REALTORS: Sync Your Email and Direct Mail Marketing

Online and offline marketing work best hand-in-hand. But many real estate pros have given up on a direct mail strategy, even though if you combine it with other channels, “it can help you show customers and prospects you’re truly invested in them,” says McKenzie Gregory, content writer for e-marketing platform Emma. Gregory offers four ideas in her recent article on how to synchronize direct mail so that it supports your digital marketing.

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