Daily Archives: March 27, 2018

5 Cool Sinks

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They say that remodeling your kitchen and bathroom will not only increase the value of your home but will also improve the chances of it selling. I’ve always wondered who ‘they’ are…

Here are five cool sinks that will make that remodeling more interesting 🙂

1. A way to conserve water:

If you take too long washing your hands the fish get’s it! Yes it’s great for water preservation but not so for cleanliness 🙂 (don’t worry, the fish won’t die, there are two separate water sources)

2. Shaken not stirred:

For those people who have a bit of Bond, James Bond, in them this one is for you!

3. Bend it like Beckham?

For the football (sorry, I can’t call it soccer…) fans out there here is a fun way to cleanup after the game 🙂

4. A sink for the garage?

Looking to buy your favorite mechanic a gift? Ideal for a garage or man cave this sink recycles a tire/tyre and includes a circular mirror studded with four hub-nuts:

5. And last but not least…

Hot water you get red, cold you get blue, either way this sink “seats a metal ball with an array of electromagnetic sensors detecting the ball’s position and simply by moving the ball in or out from the water you get to control the water pressure while moving it around controls water’s temperature” is cool!

Voice for Real Estate – AHPs, Banks, Infrastructure

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The Department of Labor’s association health plan rule is a good step but eligible “working owners” should include people who get insurance through their spouse, NAR says.

NAR supports the Senate banking bill because it’s expected to open up more home lending to households. And there could be some opportunities for real estate pros if the infrastructure plan moves forward. NAR is seeking permanent extension of a tax break for homeowners who’ve had mortgage debt forgiven. A Realtor spoke at a Capitol Hill roundtable on why flood insurance must be reauthorized and reformed for the long-term. And a cyber security expert explains how agents can protect themselves from scams.

Facebook’s Growing Stature in the Online Ad Market

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Source: Statista

After having been criticized for his initial reaction to the Cambridge Analytica affair, in which he acknowledged his company’s responsibility in protecting user data but stopped short of actually apologizing, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in several major newspapers on Sunday to make up for it. “We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it”, the ad opens, repeating a statement that Zuckerberg had already made last week. Only this time it leads to an actual apology. “This was a breach of trust, and I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time”, the statement continues, referring to the harvesting of millions of Facebook users’ data in 2014 and the company’s idleness after learning about it.

While Facebook promises to take better care of its users’ data going forward, many commentators rightfully point out that what happened, collecting user data and using the information to target ads to people, is Facebook’s business model in a nutshell. “Data misuse is a feature, not a bug”, Ethan Zuckerman writes for The Atlantic, only in this case it wasn’t used to sell people the right shoes but to manipulate their political views and stir division.

As the following chart illustrates, Facebook has had tremendous success selling personalized ads over the past few years. In 2017, the company accounted for 20 percent of the global online advertising market, second only to Google, arguably the one company sitting on an even larger trove of personal data. It will be interesting to see how the current debate affects Facebook’s advertising business in the long run. The company’s shareholders are certainly worried: Facebook’s share price dropped nearly 20 percent over the past ten days.

Social Media Infographic