?(KMOV) ? News 4 tracked down a contractor who has been accused of avoiding customers who paid for work that never happened.
Customers have been calling the Better Business Bureau for months after the A-1 Energy Company in Belleville never followed through on installing solar panels.
Greg Voelkel hired A-1 Energy to install the solar panels on his Alhambra home.
?We?re very into energy efficiency. We have high efficient windows.? Voelkel said.
He paid more than $26,000 in December and doesn?t have anything to show for it.
?Every day that went by, even weeks would go by, we?d check in with the company. They?d say well, there?s another job to do or the weather?s bad and that?s if I could get a hold of them,? Voelkel said.
Homeowners in Illinois and Missouri have come forward to say A-1 Energy has left them high and dry.
News 4 went to the company?s president Jason Hark at his Swansea home.
?Honestly, we placed a lot of trust in some of our employees and it didn?t work out too well. They?ll get the work done, we?re just going through a real lean time right now to make sure we can fulfill those contracts,? Hark said.
He apologized but for some that wasn?t enough.
Voelkel said ?at this point, I just want my money back.?
News 4 will continue to monitor this situation and make sure Hark and A-1 Energy makes good on these contracts.?
Twenty years after "The Cosby Show" went off the air, Bill and his TV family still have the moves to make them suitable stand-ins for Robin Thicke's super catchy "Blurred Lines" video.
In a mash-up of the practically saintly and the definitely sexy, a new viral video replaces the opening theme song to the late-'80s sitcom with the 2013 hit from Thicke, Pharrell and T.I.
In the original, Cliff Huxtable, wife Clair, and kids Vanessa, Theo, Denise and Rudy all get down to a jazzy instrumental number ? "Kiss Me," composed by Cosby and Stu Gardner. Bill Cosby's grimace and stiff moves are lovingly juxtaposed alongside his groovier family members.
In the remake ? complete with a giant #COSBY stamp to match the #THICKE one it mimics ? the family's dance moves don't miss a beat when set to Thicke's R&B track. Every spin, arm swing and knee bend makes it seem like the actors are really dancing to "Blurred Lines."
You just can't let visions of the scantily clad models in the real Thicke video (84 million views on YouTube) re-enter your mind. And maybe don't think about the "Blurred Lines" lyrics while you watch the Cos bump up against his kids: "I know you want it, but you're a good girl. They way you grab me, must wanna get nasty ..."
An unrated version of Thicke's video would definitely not be suitable viewing at the Huxtable residence, as it contains a good deal of nudity. The singer has also had to defend the song against critics who call the lyrics "rapey."
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (4)
This thorough, engrossing film shows how idealistic Aussie hacker Julian Assange took on the might of the US, exposing their military and diplomatic misconduct, then allowed his own murky personal life to tarnish his credibility.
Sometimes it takes a feature-length documentary to stitch together a story we think we already know.
A real-life cyber-thriller with real-life consequences, Alex Gibney's We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is a riveting and revelatory documentary ...
Gibney builds a remarkable level of suspense, given how exhaustively WikiLeaks has been covered in the media.
Engaging, kinetic, revelatory and unexpected.
At once an awkward mingling of two complex life stories and a gripping, necessary look at how information is gathered, shared and, yes, stolen.
In truth, there's little in Alex Gibney's film that won't be familiar to attentive news watchers, but this skilled documentarian has mastered the art of condensing a vast and complex amount of information into a gripping and entertaining package.
The range of Gibney's subjects, the rigour of his research and the complexity of his questions make We Steal Secrets breathlessly compelling, but it's the moments of psychological probing that haunt the most.
Noxious government activities may warrant exposure, but Gibney points out that the whistleblowers can be pretty flawed too.
Alex Gibney adds to his forensic examinations of Enron and Abu Ghraib with another fine documentary.
Alex Gibney has shone his spotlight into a few dark corners and shown us something worthy of discussion.
A thoughtful documentary about Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, secrets, lies, power and the poorly understood nature of the internet.
If you're looking for a really comprehensive, clear, evenhanded and thoroughly entertaining examination of, well, the story of WikiLeaks, master documentarian Alex Gibney has gone to the trouble of providing you with one.
A fascinating insight into Wikileaks and the two men behind the world's largest ever whistleblowing scandal.
This look at WikiLeaks -- and founder Julian Assange -- makes its case long before the film stops talking.
It portrays a seething nest of highly volatile personalities whose motivations are fraught with ambiguities and contradictions, and a chain of actions and reactions the full impact of which has yet to be measured.
Alex Gibney's film is an absorbing examination of the world's most infamous information portal.
Gibney doesn't set out with an agenda either to pillory or to sanctify Assange; he seeks out the various profiles that Assange has shown his followers, fans, enemies and interlocutors over the years. And they are not all in synch
Superb, unbiased filmmaking that allows us to make up our own mind about Assange and whether his idealist vision as an innovator has become confused by self-obsessed paranoia
Which is the real Assange? This movie cannot say. It's as if Gibney threw up his hands, put the whole mess in the audience's lap and said, "Here, YOU figure this guy out."
A psychological suspense film with an open ending that's more haunting than the tricky climaxes of most post-Hitchcock thrillers.
With an approach that feels like a thriller, Gibney looks at both sides of the debate over the site's purpose and effectiveness.
Smart and opinionated, it's a great introduction to this ongoing story.
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MetroPCS offered the teaser last week and as of today it looks like the official confirmation has arrived. The carrier has announced the Samsung GALAXY S 4 and the handset will be available as of today. Those considering the purchase will need to be prepared to shell out $549, but otherwise, the GALAXY S 4 will be available contract-free and with the MetroPCS plans that begin at $40 per month.
The one catch with the MetroPCS GALAXY S 4 will be in where it is actually available. For now the carrier has it listed as being available in ?select? markets with additional market and online availability to be announced soon. Basically, it is looking like the carrier has the handset available for those in a MetroPCS LTE covered area.
Otherwise, looking towards those plans and as mentioned they begin at $40 per month. The plans then go up to $50 and $60 per month. All three options include unlimited talk, text and data. The main difference between the three plans come in with how much high-speed data is also included. The $40 per month plan includes 500MB, the $50 per month plan includes 2.5GB and the $60 per month plan is unlimited.
The handset itself will arrive running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with the TouchWiz user interface. The handset will also have a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass along with a quad-core 1.9GHz processor, 2 megapixel front-facing camera and 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video recording.
Finally, in addition to the hardware, Samsung has the GALAXY S 4 loaded up with plenty of software features. Some of those include Smart Pause which will have your video pausing when you look away from the screen and Air View which shows previews of emails, images from the gallery and even stories that are in Flipboard. Samsung also includes Air Gesture which means you can wave your hand to do things such as answer a call or skip a track.
The New York Times Peter Lattman reports Thomson Reuters will suspend its service of providing data to an exclusive subscriber list two seconds before they report it publicly. This is according to Lattman's unnamed source.
Reuters has been paying the University of Michigan at least $1 million a year to distribute consumer confidence data early to a list of money management customers, he writes.
But New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had opened an investigation into the practice.
UPDATE: AG Schneiderman's office announces Reuters has agreed to immediately discontinue is practice of releasing the early data.
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Agree/Disagree: Apple must move to a 6 month iPhone product cycle to keep competitive edge against Samsung, Android, rise of Windows Phone.
Vote for the results in the left column below or go straight to the results here.
Monday Highlights: Adam Lashinsky looks at two arguments surrounding Apple, gives edge to argument that Apple has peaked though good days are ahead; Apple once again rises up Fortune's Global 500 list to number 19, and Philip Elmer-DeWitt chronicles their progress over the past 8 years where the company sat at number 492; John Rizzo of MacWindows tracking Thunderbolt issues in Win8/Boot Camp; Mactuts+ suggests using Skitch for your screenshot needs in OS X; Layers Magazine reviews touch-up app, Portrait Professional 11 Studio 64; TotalSpaces for OS X can restore Spaces features from Snow Leopard; Mac|Life shows how to create your own Feedly desktop app; Amsys shows how you can enable full size previews in Mission Control; Haydn Shaughnessy counters claim the smartphone boom has peaked, says it's actually Samsung which has peaked; iOS is growing in the US, narrowing lead held by Android according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech stats; Apple offering several free apps and games as celebration of App Store's 5th anniversary; DigiTimes churns the rumor mill yet again, reporting new iPad is all set for a September debut, while iPad mini will follow later; video of purported new budget iPhone models hit the web, more in our Hardware/Software section; offline voice dictation coming to iOS 7?; Apple set to have a printer promo in Apple Stores?; Insanely Great Mac video on building a Hackintosh Pro on the Intel Haswell platform; Jonny Evans looks at NoteSuite project management app for iPad BYOD converts; Macworld UK reviews InstaWeather Pro, Yahoo! Weather for iPhones; Joe Kissell at Macworld chronicles his efforts to move to a paperless office; GigaOM on what role the new Xbox One will play in the TV ecosystem.
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Mon Jul 8
"Review: Vaultskin Lexx Wallet Case for iPhone 5" Run Around Tech
8:56 AM
News
"Apple seeds OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 3"?9 to 5 Mac?8:25 PM
"Apple seeds OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 3"?AppleInsider?8:25 PM
"Apple Releases OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 3"?MacRumors?9:07 PM
AppleCare/Troubleshooting
"How to prevent inadvertent Hot Corner activation in OS X: The Hot Corners feature in OS X offers convenient access to some useful functions, but it's not so convenient if you trigger it by accident."?MacFixIt?8:27 PM
"What to do when Disk Utility shows inconsistent errors with drives: Sometimes OS X's Disk Utility may show errors with a drive when it's run from one location, but will describe the drive as perfectly healthy when run from another."?CNET Reviews?4:18 PM
"Q&A: MacFixIt Answers/Managing persistent icon placement changes, physically spurred visual artifacts on a MacBook display, and more are among this week's topics."?MacFixIt?1:21 PM
"More Thunderbolt problems in Boot Camp Windows 8"?MacWindows?8:59 AM
"More reader woes on OS X 10.8.4 breaking Windows file sharing"?MacWindows?8:59 AM
"Outlook 2011 broken in 10.8.4 and Mavericks DP"?MacWindows?8:59 AM
Reviews/How-To/Tips
"OS X Mavericks preview: Multiple Displays finally work like they're supposed to"?iMore?3:58 PM
"Using Skitch to Snap Perfect Screenshots"?Mactuts+?8:55 AM
"Getting Safari's Selection on iPad As HTML With A JavaScript Bookmarklet"?MacStories?8:27 PM
"ReadKit for Mac is Almost the Perfect Reading App"?TidBITS?4:02 PM
"RocketDocs Brings Coherence to Google Docs"?TidBITS?4:01 PM
"Missing Spaces? TotalSpaces could be the cure"?Macworld?8:56 AM
"The Touch: use your Magic Trackpad or iPad as a control surface"?IT.Enquirer?7:49 AM
"Instantly Share Files & Screenshots From Mac Menu Bar With Thunder"?AddictiveTips?8:18 AM
"How to Make Your Own Feedly Desktop App for Mac OS X"?Mac|Life?9:04 AM
"Enhancing Reminders with AppleScript and Macros"?MacStories?12:47 PM
"Briefly for Mac OS X is a fun tool for creating still motion Videos"?AppleDailyReport?7:50 AM
"How to enable Mission Control to display full size previews"?Amsys?7:34 AM
"Cassandra: Maintenance in OS X -Option and Command Keys"?eXtensions?8:03 AM
"Manage your Mail, Contacts, Calendars and Social Accounts in one spot"?MacNews Blog?7:43 AM
"Update Whenever You Like ? Disable App Auto Updating In Mavericks Beta [OS X Tips]?Cult of Mac?8:16 AM
"Adjust All My Files criteria from the Finder"?Mac OS X Hints?9:50 AM
"How To Make Your Mac Adobe Free"?NoodleMac?7:44 AM
"Free: Lightbox Pop Up Photo Galleries For Your Mac"?McSolo?7:44 AM
"This Is The App That Mac Power Users Use To Save Time And Money"?TeraTalks?7:45 AM
"The Quick, Easy, Painless Way To Scan, Find, And Troubleshoot Wi-Fi Networks On A Mac"?Mac 360?7:44 AM
"The Most Expensive Mac World Clock You Can Get Is Also The World's Best Mac Clock"?BohemianBoomer?7:44 AM
"If You Hate Email, Then You Need More Email App Power. Get It With MailMate"?Mac 360?7:43 AM
Op/Ed
"How Malware is Researched ? Part 2"?Intego?4:03 PM
"Will OS X Mavericks be Free?"?MacStories?11:05 AM
"What if the Mavericks Dashbook looked like this Black and Blue desktop?"?AppleDailyReport?7:46 AM
Press Releases
"'Deus Ex: The Fall' for iOS gets new gameplay trailer & July 11 release date"?9 to 5 Mac?4:21 PM
"Twitter for iOS and Mac updated with Direct Message syncing, more"?9 to 5 Mac?1:21 PM
"Artlantis 5: Get Ready for the Revolution!"?Abvent?10:43 AM
"Cocktail 6.5 (Mountain Lion Edition) has been released."?Maintain?9:56 AM
"ExactScan Professional Document Scanning for Windows & Linux"?ExactScan?7:50 AM
"Coherence Labs Releases TypeMetal, a Revolutionary HTML Writing App for Mac OS X"?Choherence Labs?7:46 AM
"Chronos Announces PrintLife 1.0"?Chronos?7:41 AM
"Tim Cook expected to attend Sun Valley conference this week"?AppleInsider?8:25 PM
"Once again, Tim Cook to attend Sun Valley conference for tech/media execs"?9 to 5 Mac?8:25 PM
"Tim Cook Heading to Sun Valley Conference for 2nd Year Running"?MacRumors?8:27 PM
"No, The Smartphone Boom Has Not Peaked - Samsung Has" ["In reality, Apple and Samsung have anticipated the turbulent nature of smartphone markets extremely well."]?Forbes?7:56 AM
"The iPhone Hasn't Saved T-Mobile USA Yet"?New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required]?9:15 PM
"T-Mobile iPhone Helps iOS Move In on Android in U.S."?PC Magazine?10:41 AM
"Android still leads in U.S., but iOS grows stronger: Sales growth for the three-month period ending May was flat for Android but reached 3.5 percent for iOS, says Kantar Worldpanel ComTech."?CNET News?7:58 AM
"Android's Lead Over iOS In The US Narrows"?AppAdvice?9:04 AM
"Apple iPhone 5 sold twice as fast as Samsung Galaxy S4, says analyst: Estimates find that it took just 25 days for Apple to ship 20 million units of its iPhone 5, with Samsung taking a month more"?Macworld UK?8:22 AM
"UK study: iPhone 5 launch took heavy flak on social networks/iPhone 5 reception not as warm as Galaxy S4 on respective launch days"?Electronista?8:15 AM
"Office for iPhone downloads start with a bang, but fizzle before 4th: Dutch app analytics firm implies at least 200K downloads in first six days"?Computerworld?9:26 AM
"MTS Bolsters Windows Smartphones as Apple IPhone Ebbs in Russia"?Bloomberg?4:24 PM
"Samsung bought Boxee as a preemptive strike on Apple and other rivals"?Digital Trends?8:42 AM
"Classical music virtuoso who plays piano and tablet: Conrad Tao is a 19-year-old virtuoso who tries to push the limits of classical music by combining tradition and technology. His experiments include compositions for piano and iPad as well as stage performances with a bright pink toy piano." [Video Report]?BBC?8:18 PM
"6 years after the iPhone launched, just 4 big carriers are left standing"?VentureBeat?8:28 PM
"Apple Highlights 5 Years Of The App Store For iOS"?ReadWrite?4:04 PM
"Top iOS apps and games go free ahead of App Store's fifth anniversary"?The Verge?7:58 AM
"Popular iOS apps go free ahead of App Store's five-year anniversary: Several titles, including Infinity Blade II and Traktor DJ are now available for free in Apple's marketplace."?CNET News?7:58 AM
"iPad Controlled Super Yacht Wins Design Awards"?PadGadget?4:03 PM
Publications/Podcasts
"OWC's Larry O'Connor: the New Mac Pro is Both Disappointing & Exciting"?The Mac Observer?1:21 PM
"We take a look at the iWork for iCloud beta that was recently made available to people with free Apple Developers accounts. Plus the iTunes App Store turns 5 years old this week."?The MT Show?7:34 AM
"Apple rumored to launch fifth-gen iPad in Sept., new iPad mini to follow"?AppleInsider?8:50 AM
"Apple Is Exploring Some Major Changes For The Next Version Of The iPad Mini"?Business Insider?10:41 AM
"iPad 5 sooner, Mini Retina later: Suppliers sing similar tune/Supplier chatter has become fairly consistent about when the iPad 5 and iPad Mini Retina will arrive."?CNET News?8:35 PM
"Report claims new iPad set for release in September with smaller bezel, better battery life"?9 to 5 Mac?9:04 AM
"Fifth-gen iPad reportedly set for September, Retina iPad mini still being tweaked"?BGR?9:51 AM
"DigiTimes Says Next iPad Set for September, iPad mini Could Still Change"?The Mac Observer?8:17 PM
"iOS 7 beta 3 for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch seeded to developers, here's what's new"?9 to 5 Mac?12:48 PM
"iOS 7 Beta 3 Is Now Available For Download"?Cult of Mac?12:48 PM
"iOS 7 beta 3: Full change log released"?BGR?12:39 PM
"Apple Seeds 3rd iOS 7 Beta to Developers with Bug Fixes & Improved Performance"?The Mac Observer?3:25 PM
"iOS 7 beta 3 brings bug fixes, other improvements: As expected, Apple releases the third beta of its software for developers right on schedule."?CNET News?4:22 PM
"iOS 7 Beta 3 Software Update is Safe for Non-Developers"?iClarified?12:48 PM
"Apple Releases iOS 7 Beta 3"?AppleBitch?12:49 PM
"Apple Notes: iOS 7 Beta 3 Ships, Apple Stores in $50 Printer Promo"?Tapscape?1:21 PM
"iOS 7 Beta 3: What's New"?PhoneBuff?8:17 PM
"iOS 7's 'iOS in the Car' feature to work over WiFi with AirPlay"?9 to 5 Mac?8:25 PM
"New 'iOS in the Car' feature to work over WiFi via AirPlay"?iDownload Blog?8:26 PM
"Apple's budget iPhone 'leaked': Images purporting to show Apple's 'budget iPhone' have begun to circulate on the internet"?Telegraph?9:01 AM
"iPhone budget model 'feels less cheap than a Samsung Galaxy'"?Digital Spy?9:54 AM
"'Budget iPhone' makes an appearance in online video"?NDTV Gadgets?8:05 AM
"Report: Images, Video Show Apple's 'Budget' iPhone"?DailyTech?8:49 AM
"Apple MacBook Air most popular ultrabook-style laptop: MacBook Air accounts for more than half of thin-and-light laptop sales, data shows"?Macworld UK?8:22 AM
"In a blast from the past, Apple plans to promote printers in its retail stores"?9 to 5 Mac?9:59 AM
"New hack claims to enable free hotspot tethering, no jailbreak required"?iDownload Blog?8:22 AM
"If You Could See your MacBook's Electromagnetic Fields"?The Mac Observer?3:25 PM
AppleCare/Helps
"iMac (27-inch, Late 2012): Installing or replacing memory"?Apple Support?12:47 PM
Price Trackers/Deals
"Day One (Journal /Diary) For iPhone And iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $4.99)"?Apple Sliced?7:34 AM
"Tiny Wings HD For iPad And Tiny Wings For iPhone Are Free Right Now (Previously $2.99/$0.99)"?Apple Sliced?7:34 AM
"Where's My Water? For iPhone And iPad Is Free Today (Was $0.99)"?Apple Sliced?7:34 AM
"15" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?8:19 AM
"13" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales"?MacPrices?8:19 AM
"Refurbished MacBook Air, $749, MacBook Pro, $1,019"?FairerPlatform?7:51 AM
"PadGadget Daily App Deal ? 10 iPad Apps on Sale"?PadGadget?8:56 AM
Deal Brothers Daily Deal: Save $25 on 5th Gen 32GB Apple iPod Touch, Free Shipping
Reviews
"Video: Hackintosh Pro 2013 - Haswell Build - Components Part 1"?Insanely Great Mac?9:11 AM
"Western Digital My Passport Ultra review - good performance at a competitive price"?Macworld UK?8:42 AM
"Cobra AirWave Wireless Music Receiver"?iLounge?12:47 PM
"Digital Treasurers PocketPro Case - Convenience for MacBook Air"?The Mac Observer?12:47 PM
"Review: Vaultskin Lexx Wallet Case for iPhone 5"?Run Around Tech?8:56 AM
"Ferrari by Logic3 R100i headphones review"?AppleTell?8:27 PM
"Looking for a More Durable iPhone Case"?New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required]?8:01 AM
iPad/iPhone/iPod touch Apps
"Here Are Six Of The Biggest Changes Apple Added In The iOS 7 Beta 3"?Cult of Mac?8:26 PM
"Sugar Rush for iPhone and iPad review: Candy Crush meets Bejeweled Blitz"?iMore?3:57 PM
"'Ninja Gaiga' Review - Being a Ninja Isn't Always Pretty Work"?Touch Arcade?8:28 PM
"Write for iPad Review: There's plenty to love about this text editing and note taking app such as device sharing, gesture shortcuts and a quick keyboard toolbar."?148Apps?11:08 AM
"Polaris Office Review: Polaris provides users with a way to view and edit MS Office documents on any iOS device thanks to its intuitive interface and many impressive features."?148Apps?9:07 AM
"?12 (Sigma12) Review: ?12 (Sigma12) uses simple math to create a fun and unique arcade game."?148Apps?8:58 AM
"Strange Matter Review: In Strange Matter, players control a vehicle sent to clear out a strange energy matter infesting the space station. Its unique style makes it interesting to play."?148Apps?3:58 PM
"Global Supremacy Review: Global Supremacy has the makings of a neat location-based game, but there's not really much 'game' to it at the moment."?148Apps?3:58 PM
"RokLienz: On Tour Review/Games like Roklienz: On Tour are few and far between on iOS, which is all the more reason to check it out."?148Apps?10:40 AM
"ZAP Guitar ? No Strings Attached Review: Zap! Guitar is a fun way to play and create acoustic guitar music, whether users are guitar-aficionados or complete novices."?148Apps?1:21 PM
"Samurai Shodown II Review: The classic beat-em-up comes to iOS for the first time, but is hampered by control and difficulty issues."?148Apps?12:49 PM
How-To/Tutorial
"How To: Edit Photos Directly from iOS' Photos App"?148Apps?3:58 PM
"How to print photos from Aperture the easy way"?Macworld?9:07 AM
"How To Enable Free Personal Hotspot Tethering On An iDevice, No Jailbreak Required"?AppAdvice?8:36 AM
Tips
"Data transferred via iOS device backups"?iLounge?4:00 PM
"The Mac office: Embracing the nearly paperless future"?Macworld?8:59 AM
"Extensive List of What's New in iOS 7 Beta 3 [Images]?iClarified?8:38 PM
"How iOS 7's Font Change Looks in the New Beta 3"?Gizmodo?8:29 PM
"O.K., iOS 7 Is Definitely Still a Work in Progress: Apple gives its upcoming mobile OS a new standard font."?Techland?8:28 PM
"Do Free Price Drops Dissuade You From Buying Premium Apps?"?Apple'n'Apps?8:26 PM
"Tired of Apple and Google? Meet the dark horse mobile OSes you've never heard of"?Digital Trends?8:24 PM
"Forget icons and typefaces, iOS 7 is the birth of dynamic interface"?iMore?4:40 PM
"Why Does T-Mobile Keep Increasing The Price Of The iPhone 5?"?Business Insider?4:10 PM
"Some Thoughts on an Entry Level iPhone"?MacStories?4:10 PM
"A Thicker Hope/iOS 7 beta 3 came out this morning with a surprisingly major change: as I first saw reported by Sebastiaan de With and later more specificially identified by Neven Mrgan, the system font has allegedly been changed from Helvetica Neue Light to Helvetica Neue (regular)."?Marco Arment?3:45 PM
"On Apple's 'inability to innovate'"?TUAW?1:21 PM
"Why your next iPhone should probably be the budget one"?Quartz?12:49 PM
"Former Windows Head: This Is Why The Best Apps Are Still On iPhone And Android"?Business Insider?12:48 PM
"Notes from MacTech BootCamp II: Microsoft Office for Mac Accredited Support Professional, 2013"?AppleTell?12:47 PM
"Bigger 'iPhone Plus' release date, rumours and leaked images: When is Apple's bigger iPhone coming out?"?Macworld UK?11:08 AM
"Op-Ed: What Good Is Live Streaming On An Apple TV?"?AppAdvice?11:04 AM
"Why Yahoo's Purple Logo Rubs Us The Wrong Way" ["Jony Ive is the kingmaker of design, and with iOS 7, Apple has signaled that the color of kings is cool again. Is it any wonder that suddenly the 'old' purple Yahoo! Weather logo is starting to look a lot more modern and a lot less hideous than it once did?"]?Fast Company Design?9:58 AM
"Budget Apple iPhone pics - real or fake?"?Shiny Shiny?9:56 AM
"Marketing Lessons from Steve Jobs that Everyone Should Know"?iPad Apps Reviewer?8:56 AM
"Apple working on offline Dictation for iOS 7: Is offline Siri voice dictation on the way for iOS 7?"?Macworld UK?8:22 AM
"Apple And 5 Crazy Things From Last Week"?Mac 360?7:45 AM
"Apple, Samsung, And Google And What Needs To Be Done To Help Each Company"?PixoBebo?7:45 AM
"How Apple Gets Google To Waste Money"?Mac 360?7:39 AM
Non-Apple
"The Joys of 802.11ac WiFi"?AnandTech?8:28 PM
"Windows Phone is the new BlackBerry (but in a really, really good way)"?VentureBeat?10:51 AM
"The Xbox One's role in the TV ecosystem"?GigaOM Pro?9:51 AM
"I used a 3D printer for the first time. Here's what I learned"?GigaOM?8:19 AM
Humor/Cartoons
"Deus Ex: The Fall to Hit iOS on Thursday"?Mac|Life?9:07 PM
"'Take Control of Your Digital Photos,' Chapter 3"?TidBITS?12:48 PM
"Testing Group Raves About OBJE's Exciting New Gaming App"?Business Wire?9:54 AM
"Bluetooth SIG Announces Record Growth in Device Qualifications Spurred by OS Support for Bluetooth? Smart Ready from Apple, Google and Microsoft"?Business Wire?9:54 AM
"We just launched a new product called Poppy that turns your iPhone into a 3D camera ? kind of like a Viewmaster, except this lets you create and share your own 3D videos."?KickStarter?9:16 AM
"Garmin HUD Turns Your iPhone into a GPS Heads Up Display"?The Mac Observer?8:57 AM
"Iesabel Promises To Be The Best Hack-n-Slash RPG For iOS"?AppAdvice?8:57 AM
"Fifty Alarm Freebie Alert: 'Tiny Wings', 'Sword & Sworcery', 'Badland', 'Infinity Blade II' and 'Where's My Water?' All Free"?Touch Arcade?8:55 AM
"GoGo Pillow iPad Support, Backpack, And Travel Pillow"?MacPrices?8:36 AM
"Cassandra: NetGear R6100 WiFi router -New 802.11ac Capable Device"?eXtensions?8:36 AM
"Likemind Wants To Help You Meet Local People By Posting Virtual Flyers Through Its iOS App"?TechCrunch?8:15 AM
"Olloclip Adds Telephoto, Polarized Lenses to iPhone"?The Mac Observer?12:40 PM
"Olloclip 2X Telephoto Lens Comes With Backward-Compatible Polarizer"?Cult of Mac?8:15 AM
"Wristlet, A Dangling Unisex Purse For the iPhone"?Cult of Mac?8:15 AM
"The MUG Event Calendar for the Week of July 8: Joe Kissell, Gordon Bell of Prosoft Engineering Times Two, and Social Events"?The MUG Center?7:50 AM
"New trendy armbands for iPod nano 7G"?prMac?8:48 AM
"A new version of iPIN for iPhone, iPad and Mac is here"?prMac?8:48 AM
"Potsy - Reinvention of Hopscoth - New Arcade Game for iPhone and iPad"?prMac?7:48 AM
"iCasualTours 2.0 for iOS has been released on the App Store"?prMac?7:48 AM
"Aiming for 'Functional Coherence,' Mulling a Different P&L and With Advice From Ford CEO, Microsoft Restructuring Set for Thursday"?AllThingsD?9:06 PM
"Microsoft will reportedly unveil major restructuring Thursday: CEO Steve Ballmer expected to announce dramatic restructuring around services and hardware this week, sources tell AllThingsD"?CNET News?9:22 PM
"July's Patch Tuesday to fix six critical Windows, Office, IE security vulnerabilities"?ZDNet?11:05 AM
"Internet Explorer pegged for critical fix on Tuesday"?InfoWorld?9:29 AM
"Microsoft killing off obsolete MSN TV service in September"?ITProPortal?10:08 AM
"Microsoft to shutter MSN TV, 16 years after it launched as WebTV"?GigaOM?9:35 AM
"Microsoft to close down MSN TV on Sept. 30"?PCWorld?9:10 AM
"Microsoft (Finally) Shuts Down MSN TV, the Son of WebTV: If you didn't realize that MSN TV was still with us, you're not alone."?Techland?9:15 AM
"Windows 8 Has Logged 60 Billion Hours of Usage"?Softpedia?10:08 AM
"Dell & Friends get the green light on take-private deal: Big Mike trying to catch a falling knife"?The Register?11:39 AM
"Michael Dell's deal gets big endorsement"?Fortune?9:27 AM
"Michael Dell Wins Important Victory In His Battle For Dell"?Forbes?9:28 AM
"As Dell buyout looms, a new backer gives Michael Dell a boost over Carl Icahn"?GigaOM?9:31 AM
"Top advisory firm backs Dell CEO's offer for PC maker"?Reuters?4:16 PM
"Dell Buyout Battle: Why The Icahn-Southeastern Plan Flopped At I.S.S."?Forbes?11:00 AM
"Dell's Leveraged Buyout With Silver Lake Backed by ISS"?Bloomberg?11:24 AM
"Dell & Friends get the green light on take-private deal: Big Mike trying to catch a falling knife"?The Register?11:39 AM
In commercial property management it is easy to fall into the same basic management model with all of your properties and clients.? That can be the wrong thing to do, given that most properties have differences and challenges that all need to be adjusted to.
To get a reasonable management fee and keep the client and the property in your brokerage portfolio for a long period of time, it is necessary to produce a high quality service.? Set new standards for your brokerage; get known as the ?brokerage of choice? when it comes to managing difficult and diverse properties.
Remember these facts:
Most clients don?t do a very good job themselves in property management, so they need help.? They have not got the systems and support tools that most other quality brokerages have.
Many other property managers are a bit ordinary when it comes to skills and commitment to the task.? You can usually do a better job.
Every negotiated sale or lease is an opportunity for a property management proposal.
To attract new clients and better properties to manage here are some ideas to help you set new standards:
Understand the client before you do anything else.? They don?t just want the property managed; they want it formulated to a plan or a strategy that matches their intentions of holding the property.
Check out the tenant mix and the leases so you can relate to the strengths and weaknesses in each.? The weaknesses will need resolve or removal.? Given that some leases can go for some time if not years, you will need a tenant retention plan to help you decide what tenants are going and what are staying.
Understand the critical dates in the property with all of the leases.? Act early on the dates so you are not creating a weakness in the property or income base.
Vacancies and arrears can be challenging issues.? Both require strong and sensible management or resolve.? It pays in many cases initially not to remove a tenant because of arrears.? Usually the arrears can be managed through hence avoiding a vacancy and loss of rent.
Understand the income profiles and factors for the property.? Match the expenditure trends to the cash flow and the requirements of the landlord.? It is not so much that the bills need to be paid on time; but rather that the expenditure needs to be planned.
A good property management system will be supported by a checklist and forward planning model.? Every client is different so take the time to understand the client before you do anything else.? Help them with their property needs.
