Realtoga: 2010

John Doerr to leave Amazon.com board of directors - MarketWatch

Posted using ShareThis

John is a board member of Google and Bloom Energy.

Bloom Energy is planning IPO, I don't think so. Maybe in a couple of years.

10 Things to Know About Bloom Energy

By Katie Fehrenbacher, earth2tech.com, Feb 21, 2010

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Cruise – the best bang for your holiday buck vacation

Ever arrive at a new vacation spot, but don’t know where to eat or what to see? Ever visit some exotic island but don’t know what activities to do once you got there? And with the new airport restrictions, the thought of standing in endless security lines is enough to deter the most intrepid travelers.

If you have never been on a cruise, you have been missing out on an adventure. The cost of a cruise includes entertainment, endless food and lodging. Several major cruise lines run itineraries throughout the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Mediterranean, Baltic and Southeast Asia. And you don’t have to pack-unpack and go through airport security lines on a daily basis to visit different countries and ports – the ship (and your room) does all the moving around for you!!

The cost of a cruise includes most of your food (minus alcoholic beverages), lodging (prices vary for different type and size of cabins) and nightly entertainment. Items that cost extra include alcoholic beverages, specialized dining, photographs, shore excursions and gratuities. As long as you do not over indulge your alcoholic consumption and watch your budget on shore excursions, the overall cost of a cruise is typically lower than a land vacation. Can’t decide between Beef Wellington and Lobster? Order both, without having to worry about the check – for the most part, 5-star meals are included.

Onboard entertainment is available nightly. Due to maritime regulations, onboard casino opens all day during sea days and 30-minutes after sailing. Revues, jazz piano, magic show, and dancing are available nightly. Can’t decide between watching a Las Vegas type revue and enjoying a magic show? You could attend both shows – just check the daily ship log for different show times.

Cruises make great family vacation too. Little ones have their own program, often with dinner included. This allows parents evenings out alone or together with family. Children and teens have their own hangouts, pool and arcade. The children are kept busy with age-appropriate activities, leaving both children and parents time to relax and enjoy the amenities, both together and apart.

Just about where the ocean meets land is where you’ll find cruise ports. Want to visit the Mediterranean but can’t decide which country? There are several itineraries that visit different portions of the Med or one that circles the entire Med. How about visiting mysterious Asia? From the coast of Japan down to the Great Barrier Reef, you could choose to cruise the entire route or pick and choose different segments. How about the Caribbean? If you can’t decide which ports to visit, cruise lines have back-to-back cruises that visit not only the Eastern Caribbean, but the Western Caribbean the following week.

Once you have decided on a cruise, cruise lines conveniently booked with reputable local tours to provide a variety of excursions to choose from. Several weeks before cruises set sail, cruise lines send out excursion booklets for pre-booking. Passengers also have the option of booking direct with local tours. However, new cruisers are advised to book directly with the cruise lines since transportation is usually included in ship-sponsored excursions.

My family and I have had the pleasure of sailing several times to the Mexican Riviera, Alaska Inside Passage, Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, Southern Caribbean and Northern Europe. Each cruise was unique in itself, with different cruise lines, different cruise ships and sizes, different times of the year; and with different type of friends and family. I will discuss our experience of each cruise in upcoming future blogs…

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Using Teamviewer to create a remote session

We walked through the installation of Teamviewer earlier. Here, we are going to show you how to create a remote session between two computers.

Suppose Peter wants to show something on his computer to Mary. Both of them had Teamviewer installed on their computers.

Peter starts Teamviewer on his computer. For security reason, he creates a new password by clicking in the Password box and select Create new dynamic password.
Peter calls up Mary to start Teamviewer on her computer and gives her his ID and password.
Mary enters Peter's ID on the right hand side panel under Create session, see the picture below, and click Connect to partner.

Mary enters Peter's password in the window pops up, as shown below, and then click Log On.

A Teamviewer window pops up which displays Peter's screen on Mary's computer. In this window, both Mary and Peter can move their mouse as if they were on the same computer.
To end the shared session, Mary can simply close the Teamviewer window.

This post only covered the very basic of Teamviewer. I hope hat you find the information helpful and explore it further to fit your needs.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Teamview Quick Installation Guide

On February 25, I mentioned Teamviewer in this post. Below is a quick start guide.

Open Teamviewer's web site at http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx. You can use any web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google chrome.

Click "Start Full Version" button to download and install the full version Teamviewer. Clink Run to run the setup program now or Save for future.

Click Run to run the downloaded setup program.

Select Install to install Teamviewer on the computer. Alternatively, select Run to execute Teamviewer without installation. Click Next to continue.

In what environment do you plan to use Teamviewer? Choose the one best to fit you: personal, commercial, or both. The free version can only be used in a personal environment. In this example, we choose personal use and click Next to continue.

You need to accept the license agreement and confirm that it is for private use. Click Next to continue.

Next, you will be given two access control modes to choose: Full access or confirm all. Full access means that you are given full control on your PC to your connecting partner. Otherwise, you need to confirm all actions in a connecting session. Here we choose Full access and click Next.

After a while, you will see this window below letting you know that the installation has completed.

After Teamviewer finished installing, you will be given a unique ID and a randomly generated password. We will talk about the usage here.

Since it takes two computers to share a connection session, let's repeat the above steps 1-9 on another computer to install Teamviewer.

Amazing Talented Kids Playing Piano

Thanks to Bill for a youtube link to Ethan Bortnick. What an amazing talented kid playing piano. Here are a few links:
9-year-old takes on music's best
Ethan Bortnick Piano Prodigy is only 7 years old!-Artstreet Miami
6-year-old Ethan Bortnick on Tonight Show
Beyonce and Ethan Bortnick - American Airlines Arena, Miami

Another talented girl Emily Bear playing piano:
The Next Mozart? 6-Year Old Piano Prodigy Wows All
Emily Bear on Ellen
Emily Bear playing Solfeggietto
Lunchbreak - Emily Bear - Journey To My Heart

Friday, February 26, 2010

My favorite Hair Care Products: Origin and MoltoBene

I have thick, chest length hair, about 4 inches past my shoulders. I have had several bad perms in the past but my hair has since grown out. Unfortunately, my bad perm days had left my hair dry and brittle. My hair not only had split ends but some pieces would simply break off about 1 inch from the ends. My only solution was constant trims to even out my Hair length.

I had tried just about every over the counter hair products available. After I begun working, I even tried expensive salon brands like Paul Mitchell, Nexus and Kerastase. None worked for me. I resigned myself to sport the same dry, brittle mass of straw hair until I was introduced to the following 2 products.

Origin Shampoo: the best one made on the market. Period.

I like “Clear Head Mint” and its subtle minty smell. I bought and am still using the larger sizes, with the pump. I immediately noticed my hair felt different, even under the shower spray. Whereas my hair used to knot together after using other shampoos, my hair now felt smoother. Even before using the conditioner, I could actually run my fingers down my hair. I had never been able to do that before.
Origin shampoo is available in its specialty stores and online. If you register your email with Origin, they will send you periodic $10 off coupons for every $35 purchase.
Macy’s also carries Origin products. Once or twice a year during their “Friends and Family” promotions, I use the 20% off coupon to stock up on Origin products. Otherwise, Origin products are never included in Macy’s seemingly daily coupons…

Conditioner: B:Oce by MoltoBene. This conditioner is made in Japan and available in some salons and online. A friend introduced this to me and it’s made a world of difference. I started using B:Oce after I had used Origin shampoo for a few weeks (along with Paul Mitchell conditioner). Whereas my hair started to look and feel different with Origin shampoo, the turnaround occurred after I switched to B:Oce conditioner. Using the combination of both Origin shampoo and B:Oce conditioner has made a lasting change to my hair.

I use very little each time (half of pump). After shampooing, squeeze out excess water and gently rub the conditioner sparingly to your hair but only from roots on down. I like to take half a pump into my palm and rub my hands together. I then rub my hair from the nap down. I leave this conditioner in my hair until after I’ve washed my body – about 2 minutes. I then run water down my hair to clean both hair and body.
It’s important to never let this conditioner touch your hair roots; otherwise your scalp may feel oily afterwards. Experiment how much to use for your own hair length. I recommend that you initially buy the large bottle with the pump and then just buy the refill sacks to save cost. Since very little is necessary with each use, I go through about one “sack” per year…
I use a towel to wrap my hair and squeeze out excess water. Don’t ever rub your wet hair, as this will put unnecessary pressure on your delicate hair roots and you’ll end up pulling out your hair. Immediately dry your hair, starting from the roots. Be sure to hold your blower more than 6 inches from your hair so you don’t burn it. Use your fingers to “fluff” to allow the warm air to flow through your wet hair. I use a 1800watt dryer and takes me less than 5 minutes to blow my hair completely dry.
You can’t miss this hot pink bottle. No worries; the conditioner itself is milky white and has the consistency of Jello pudding.

I’ve been using Original shampoo and MoltoBene B:Oce for a couple of years now. My hair now looks and feels silky, there is no more static and knots easily come out under shower spray. My hair hangs straight down, with no more pieces flying off like straws in a scarecrow. I no longer have split ends or hair breakage like before.

My favorite Body Care Products: L’Occitane, Crabtree and Evelyn

L’Occitane products are made in Provence, France. They have boutique stores in shopping malls throughout the world and are available online as well. I love their Rose and Lavender products but their prices are high.

Crabtree and Evelyn (C&E) products are made in England. Chances are you will find Crabtree and Evelyn stores in the same malls as L’Occitane. I am enamored of their Rosewater and Lavender products, but most especially their prices.

Since I use both L’Occitane and Crabtree and Evelyn products, I shall break down the comparison by each product that I use.

Shower gels: L’Occitane wins without a question. I use the larger size that comes with a pump. These larger sizes are usually available during the holiday season. 3 pumps are all that’s necessary to cleanse the whole body, leaving no filmy residue or greasy feel. I’m left in a fragrant cloud of Rose or Lavender. There is nothing wrong with C&E shower gels but I constantly have to squirt more to get the same coverage. C&E fragrance is more subtle than L’Occitane’s and smells “real”, not chemical-like.

Price wise, C&E wins because my local C&E store constantly has sales, some as much as 50% off. If it weren’t for the sale, I’d say they cost about the same, since I have to use more of C&E each time

Body lotion: both have similar consistency and coverage, but L’Occitane fragrance is more intense. Absorption wise, there is something odd about L’Occitane body lotion. I noticed that I could sometimes “rub off” L’Occitane remnants from my legs an hour after initial application, but this only occurs during the summer months… I have never experienced this during other times of the year. And I have to say this never happens with C&E’s body lotion at any time. Because of this issue, I switch to C&E Rosewood body lotion during the summer months.

Price wise, C&E wins. Again, constant sales are held throughout the year. I never buy C&E products unless there is a promotion

Body cream: I love L’Occitane’s body cream, especially the Rose Pearlescent Body Cream. The cream is thick and spreads nicely. The resulting shimmery glow on my skin is just awesome. My skin is left feeling soft and silky. I could easily go through a jar within a month… C&E cream is less dense but spreads nicely too. However, I notice that my skin feels less dewy after using C&E versus L’Occitane’s. Since the cream is denser than the lotion, I apply the cream only to really dry and rough spots like my heels, lower legs, arms and elbow. These areas are most exposed to the elements and suffer the most abuse. Oh and I don’t have the “rub off” issue with either brand’s body cream, only with L’Occitane’s body lotion…

Price wise, C&E wins, especially with 40 to 50% off sales they seem to hold on a monthly basis. Both brands have special packages during the holiday season that make great gifts…

Both L’Occitane and Crabtree and Evelyn are extremely popular throughout Asia, especially in Taiwan and China.

L’Occitane products are sold in duty free shops throughout US, European and Asian airports. I have done my due diligence during my travels and found that duty free prices are within 10% of store prices in the US. Rose is a popular fragrance in Asia but less so here in the US. Prices in Asian department stores are outrageous; I’ve seen markups as high as 2 to 3 times US prices.
Crabtree and Evelyn products are not found in duty free shops in the US and Asian airports. I find this very strange since the markups in department stores in China and Taiwan are easily up to 5 times the prices in the US stores. In other words, prices for both brands are similarly priced and overly inflated in China and Taiwan but E&C is a lot cheaper in the US during sale promotions.

If you have a trip to China/Taiwan and you have female relatives and friends on your gift list, pay close attention to Crabtree and Evelyn sale promotions at your local mall. Gifting C&E products will earn you bonus points with the ladies but you don’t have to spend a fortune. You’ll just look at you did.

And what about L’Occitane products, you ask? Well, just spoil yourself with these lovely products, as they are expensive luxuries. Go ahead, you deserve it.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Why Choose a No-cost Loan?

Lenders realize that borrowers may not necessarily want to pay or have the money upfront to close loans, so they came up with the no-cost option. With the no-cost option, lenders include the cost of closing loans by slightly raising their interest rates.

When clients come to me for refinancing, I ask them 1 fundamental question: How long do they plan to live in the house? Depending on their answer, I present 2 main loan options.

Pay nothing to close the loan, but the rate will be higher;
Pay some closing costs upfront to close the loan, but the rate will be lower.

For example, my clients would like to refinance a $415,000 loan.

A 5/1 ARM no-cost loan may have a rate of 4.375%, with a monthly payment of $2072.03.
A 5/1 ARM loan, with $3000 closing cost, may have a lower rate of 4.0%, with a monthly payment of $1981.27.
- The savings is $90.76 a month by going with 4.0% loan. However, because of the closing cost of $3000, it’ll take the clients almost 3 years to recoup this amount before they could enjoy the savings.
- This may be a good option for clients who plan to stay in the house for longer periods of time. However, interest rates may fall in the near future and the clients would likely refinance again.

In most cases, it is more advantageous to refinance by using the no-cost option. Yes, you’ll be paying slightly more per month, but you also have the flexibility to refinance to a lower rate at anytime, without worrying about having to pay or whether you’ve recouped your previous closing costs...

I always present both no-cost and some-cost loans to my clients. I tell them the pro’s and con’s of both cases and let them decide. If asked, I tell which loan I’d choose, but the decision is ultimately theirs.

Why Refinance With A Mortgage Broker?

If a borrower walks into his local bank to look for a mortgage loan, the bank will not tell this potential customer that their competitor across the street has a slightly better rate. The customer must do all the legwork if he wants to get the best rate. Who has the time nowadays to do that? This is where the mortgage broker can help. The mortgage broker has visibility across all lenders so he can find the best rates.

As a mortgage broker, I only work with lenders with the best rates and the best closure record. Lender JoeBob may say they have rock-bottom rates, but if JoeBob shows a consistent failure rate of funding when expected, I will steer my customers elsewhere. My customers’ time and goodwill are the most important. When I give a quote to my customers, I must be confident that I could close the loan.

Recently, a couple wanted to refinance their 30-yr fixed loan to another 30-yr fixed. I asked them what their family plans are in the next 5 years. They told me that their son will in college by then and their daughter will follow shortly. I asked them if they could see themselves still living in the same house 5 years from now and they said maybe. I then asked them about college savings for their children and if they could use a few thousands extra per year. They said, “Of course!”.

Rather than refinancing to another 30-yr fixed loan, I suggested to my clients to consider a 5/1 ARM. A 5/1 ARM is essentially a 30-yr loan but the rate is only fixed for the first 5 years. After 5 years, the interest rate could change, but the change has a lifetime cap and is usually adjusted twice annually based on a variety of indices. And of course the borrower has the right to refinance anytime to a new loan should the right opportunity come along.

I then presented 2 loans to them: the 30-yr fixed rate and payment versus the 5/1 ARM rate and payment. There was no doubt in my mind that the best loan for them is the 5/1 ARM: better rate, lower monthly payments and the flexibility to change to a new loan if a lower rate could be found in the near future. My clients wisely chose the 5/1 ARM and their refinancing is scheduled to close next week.

Remote Access Your Computer from Anywhere

Do you have a need to access your home computer while traveling on the road?
Do you have a need to access your work computer from home?
Do you have a need to access a computer that does not connect to a monitor?

If your answer is "Yes" to any of the above questions, you have come to a right place.

There are several ways to access a computer, either Windows or Mac, remotely. Below are a few popular methods:

On some flavors of Microsoft or Mac Operating Systems, they come with Remote Desktop capability. By using that, one can remotely log on to another computer on the network to perform tasks as if he is in front of the computer. This capability is only available in Microsoft Windows XP, Vista Professional version, or the newer Windows Seven Business version. For Mac, similar capability costs $299+.
GoToMyPC is a web-based product. The original company was bought out by Citrix Systems in 2003. It was in the market since late 1990's. According to IDC, it is the leader in the Remote Access market. It has basic, Pro, and Corporate versions. I suggest starting with the basic version and upgrade if needed in the future.
LogMeIn is also a web-based product. The company went public in July 2009. However, the product has been in the market since 2003. There are several products for personal use, including a free version. There is even a version for iphone.
TeamViewer was founded in Germany in 2005. It has a free version for personal use.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

No-Cost Mortgage Refinance

Are you paying more for your mortgage than you need to? Please call for a no obligation review and perhaps I could help you refinance – at no cost to you!!

Below are some recent no-cost mortgage refinance scenarios:

1. Loan #1: $200,000, 15-yr fixed, closed escrow December 2009

o Was paying 4.750% but refinanced to 4.375% (4.375% APR)

o Saving the borrowers $38.42 per month or $464.01 annually

o Cost to the borrowers -> zero!

2. Loan #2: $352,000, 30-yr fixed, closed escrow December 2009

o Was 4.875% but refinanced to 4.625 % (4.68% APR)

o Saving the borrowers $53.04 per month or $636.48 annually

o Cost to the borrowers -> nada!

3. Loan #3: $490,000, 5/1 ARM, escrow to close March 2010

o Was 5.125% but refinanced to 4.375% (3.738% APR)

o Will be saving the borrowers $221.49 per month, or $2657.88 annually

o Cost to the borrowers -> zilch!

Please contact Anna Tseng (DRE 01781528), realtoga at gmail dot com, and let me show you how to save hundreds and perhaps thousands per year on your mortgage payments.

Second step: Set up Parental Controls on existing accounts

Now, two accounts have been created. On the upper right corner of the Control Panel window, single click on Set up Parental Controls for any user. Select any user account of your interest, in our case, "brandon" account.

Remember that this account is for school work related use, such as, checking home work assignments and grades, emails and news.

Let's walk through the options:

Enable Parental Controls so that all other options on this window will take effect
Optionally enable Activity Reporting to have Windows to collect information about computer usage
Single click on Windows Vista Web Filter leads us to Web Restrictions for "brandon".

Here we enable Block some websites or content and created a block list for facebook.com etc.

The list can be obtained by inspecting the activity report mentioned above. Basically, all sites that do not have anything to do with his school work could be candidates for blockage. We also choose the Custom web restriction level and select all categories that are inappropriate for him. You may also Enable Block file downloads in this window if you wish. Click OK when complete.
Single click on Time Limits leads us to Time Restrictions where we can control when"brandon" can use this computer. Toggle the time slots to allow or block usage, displayed in blue color.
Click OK when complete.
Single click on Games leads us to Game Controls where we disable game playing. Click OK when complete.
Single click on Allow and block specific programs leads us to Application Restrictions. Here "brandon" can use all programs. Click OK when complete.
Back in User Controls window, the current settings of this account are displayed on the right hand side. Single click on View activity reports to bring up the Activity Viewer for all user accounts. Single click on any user account on the left hand side to view its history of Web Browsing, System, and Applications Run and etc.

Recalling the account created for "play", the primary differences are on the Web filter, Time limit and Games settings:

On the Web Restrictions, we enable Block some websites or content and create an Allow list which contains only those appropriate sites that we agreed upon. We enable Only allow websites which are on the allow list.
On the Time Restrictions, we only open those agreed upon time slots. We reward good behavior or school reports with extra time slots.
On the Game Controls, we enable game playing up to TEEN rating.

This concludes Parental Controls set up.

First Step: Create User Accounts in Windows

In order to accomplish the three goals listed earlier, the first step is to create two user accounts for him. We created one account for school work "brandon" and another account "play" for leisure. He uses account "brandon" to research for his home work, news and emails, or those "non-play" activities. On the other hand, he uses account "play" for playing games and visiting facebook.com. We found out that he could spend too much time on facebook so a limit has to be set.

In Windows Vista or Seven, log in an administrative user account. User accounts are created in the Control Panel. To bring up Control Panel window:

Single click on Start , located at the lower left corner of your desktop, or you can press the Windows key, normally located at the lower left corner of your keyboard
Single click on Settings, shown below

Single click on Control Panel to bring up the Control Panel shown below
Single click on Add or remove user accounts. If a Windows needs your permission to continue window pops up, click Continue.
Single click on Create a new account

In our case, we created two standard user accounts: "brandon" and "play".

Why Parental Controls?

We have a teenager in our family. We understand that he needs to use computer for his home work after coming back from school. We bought a new computer a year or so ago for hm. He often plays computer games and goes to social networking sites, such as facebook.com, to interact with school friends and neighborhood kids with similar age. However, with the easy access to the huge amount of information available on the internet, often inappropriate for his age, we are concerned about his online safety. We also learned that kids often forget about what they need to do and need help to prioritize their time between home work and computer play time. We felt that we needed to do the following:

Set a limit on computer time
Allow or block of certain computer programs or games
Limit access to appropriate sites that we all agree upon

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Monday, March 1, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

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