"Foreclosure" keyword - google results skyrocketed!

The keyword foreclosure returned 3,880,000 searches in google back in December of 2007.
Today google returns 52,600,000 results!!!!
foreclosure websites like wiseforeclosures.com are popping like mushrooms
it's crazy!

Jobless Rate is very scary! Hold on New Yorkers!

The nation's unemployment rate rose to a higher-than-expected 7.6 percent in January as businesses shed 598,000 jobs.
Wonder what are the numbers in New York area.
Here is what we know to date:
The state's unemployment-benefits computers, swamped by jobless New Yorkers, shut down early in January of 2009.

Budget officials assume the city will have shed 294,000 jobs from mid-2008 through 2010, the highest official estimate by government officials yet, including 46,000 in financial industries.

Bloomberg has proposed cutting the city budget by about $1 billion and raising its sales tax to help close a $4 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Bill Gates releases mosquitoes into audience

While giving a presentation on malaria, Bill Gates opens a jar of mosquitoes at technology conference.
I am sure people in the audience freaked out! ! ! ! !
"Bill Gates just released mosquitos into the audience at TED and said, 'Not only poor people should experience this.'"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29022220/

On vacation - sunny Aruba is calling...

Riu Hotel in Aruba is calling so I gotta go. See you all in a week :-)

Adding Social Bookmarks to your Blog - which one brings more traffic?

There are a lot of icons out there. And they keep coming up with new ones every day.
Here is an interesting article on popularity of these icons.
Source is addthis.com - you know the one button that replaces all icons and when you click on it expands.
Top Social Bookmarking/Sharing - September 2007

Top Feed Readers - September 2007

If you are looking for a tip on how to add all bookmark icons(technorati, del.icio.us, furl, reddit, digg, newsvine, stumble upon etc) to your blog - see my other article here

Real Estate is up in Brooklyn! Long Island and Queens prices are down!

The market for residential real estate in Brooklyn remained strong in the third quarter, according to a study by appraisal firm HMS Associates.

Brooklyn single family home prices rose 20.1% to $723,000 from a year-ago, while four-family home prices climbed 19.1% to $1.2 million. Co-op prices rose 32.3% to $557,000 during the quarter, while condo prices dropped 2.9% from $616,000 to $598,000.

The average sales price for Brooklyn homes rose 12% to $704,888 during the three months ended Sept. 30, according to the report, which included data on single and multi-family homes, as well as co-ops and condominiums. Average sales prices climbed 3% in the second quarter and 9% in the first quarter, though co-ops were not included in the data from the first three months of the year. See article from newyorkbusiness.com

In my opinion it will go up in flames very soon.
Prices on Long Island in Nassau and Suffolk County are declining .
Long Island housing market takes a hit!
The Multiple Listing Service of Long Island said Thursday that the median closing price of a home on the Island plunged 4.5 percent in September from a year earlier. And 30 percent fewer contracts were written on houses last month compared to September 2006.Median closing prices in Nassau and Suffolk counties in September slipped to $430,000, down from $450,000 last year, the listing service said. The median closing price also fell in Queens, to $446,000. MLSLI did not provide individual closing prices by county.
The contracted median home price -- considered a more current indicator -- was down from a year ago: $445,000 in Nassau (from $475,000), $380,000 in Suffolk (from $390,000), and $446,000 in Queens (from $480,000).

- See article from Newsday.

Real Estate market in Brooklyn is completely overpriced and it crossed affordability long time back.
Something is still holding this beast!
But when it will fall it will fall hard!!!
The question is when .

Diibs: better online market place than craigslist

How many people got burned by craigslist market place?
I know few including my dad who got screwed on craigslist via fake paypal payment once. If you put your camera there for sale and you get spammed by hundreds of people from Indonesia or Nigeria. An there is no flow like ebay has - you know bid/confirmation/accept/ship. Well here is an interesting company - dibs.net. Everything is done within local community.
And it does have a flow to it:
1. Post your item for sale
2. People send offers to you
3. You accept the best offer
4. make arrangements for pickup.