Daily Archives: June 12, 2013

Chappaqua’s Bill Clinton To Receive ‘Father Of the Year’ Award | Chappaqua Homes

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As Sunday’s Father’s day approaches, Chappaqua resident and former President Bill Clinton will be honored with “Father of the Year” by the National Father’s Day Council at its 72nd Annual Father of the Year Awards Tuesday afternoon in New York City in a luncheon at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Macy’s CEO Terry J. Lundgren will also be honored. Both were deemed with the honor back in January.

“We are extremely honored to have President Clinton accept this award for Father of the Year,” said Dan Orwig, chairman of the National Father’s Day Committee.

“With the profound generosity, leadership and tireless dedication to both his public office and many philanthropic organizations, President Clinton exemplifies the attributes that we celebrate through this award.”

Clinton, whose only child, Chelsea, is now 32 years old and married, was elected President in 1992 and served two terms. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, the nation’s former secretary of state. The former president focuses on his William J. Clinton Foundation, which seeks to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods and protect the environment.

About the National Father’s Day Council: As part of its commitment to support meaningful philanthropies dealing with issues affecting mothers, fathers and children, the National Father’s Day/Mother’s Day Council, Inc., has donated more than $30 million to date to meaningful charities nationwide.

 

Chappaqua’s Bill Clinton To Receive ‘Father Of the Year’ Award Tuesday | The Armonk Daily Voice.

Many Mt. Kisco Village Tax Bills Have Been Lost In the Mail | Mt. Kisco Homes

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MT. KISCO, N.Y. — The following is an advisory from Mt. Kisco regarding your tax bill.

ALL 2013 VILLAGE TAX BILLS THAT WERE MAILED OUT ON MAY 31, 2013 HAVE BEEN LOST BY THE WHITE PLAINS REGIONAL PROCESSING CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SENDING OUT A DUPLICATE BILLING TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS BY TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013.

HOWEVER, NYS REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW WILL NOT ALLOW ME OR ANY OTHER VILLAGE OFFICIAL TO WAIVE ANY PENALTY. ALL VILLAGE TAX BILLS ARE STILL DUE BY JULY 1, 2013, WITHOUT PENALTY.

PLEASE KNOW, AS ALWAYS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO PAY YOUR BILL IN PERSON AND WILL RECEIVE A COPY OF YOUR TAX BILL AT THAT TIME IF THAT IS MORE CONVENIENT FOR YOU.

WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS HAS CAUSED YOU. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THE VILLAGE HAS COMMENCED AN INVESIGATION WITH THE POSTAL SERVICE AND HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASSURED THAT ANY AND ALL ADDITIONAL COSTS WILL BE PAID FOR BY THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.

Joann F. Cerretani
Receiver of Taxes
Village/Town of Mount Kisco
104 Main Street
Mount Kisco, New York 10549
(914) 864-0034

 

Many Mt. Kisco Village Tax Bills Have Been Lost In the Mail | The Mt. Kisco Daily Voice.

Police Seize Cache Of Fireworks From Valhalla Home, Evacuate Area | Bedford Real Estate

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A Valhalla man was arrested early Tuesday after Westchester County Police said they discovered a large cache of commercial-grade fireworks stacked floor-to-ceiling in his basement on Saldi Lane.

Police evacuated the area around the home Tuesday and closed the streets to traffic until the explosive material was removed.

Stephen Surace, 53, has been charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony, first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, and unlawfully dealing in fireworks, a misdemeanor. Surace will be arraigned in Mount Pleasant Town Court on Tuesday.

Police arrested Surace after an undercover officer bought $1,000 worth of fireworks and noticed the large cache in the basement.

“Based on the volume of material and the potential explosive hazard, the decision was made to move immediately to arrest Mr. Surace and secure the home,” Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth said.

Many of the fireworks were the type used in commercial fireworks displays. Officers from the Westchester County Police Hazardous Devices Unit and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were removing the fireworks from the house.

 

Police Seize Cache Of Fireworks From Valhalla Home, Evacuate Area | The White Plains Daily Voice.

P. Allen Smith: How to Grow Edamame | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Edamame is a vegetable soybean in the same family as the soybeans farmers grow but there are a few differences. Vegetable soybeans are harvested while they are still green while field soybeans are left on the plant to dry. Vegetable soybeans are larger than field soybeans with a creamier texture and mild, nutty flavor.

If you think edamame is a tasty snack, you should try growing the beans in your garden. Edamame’s flavor is that much better when prepared fresh from the garden and it’s very easy to grow.

Prep

Choose a site with full sun and well-drained soil amended with organic matter such as humus or compost.

Some sources recommend treating the beans with inoculant powder (Rhizobium japonicum inoculant) to help them absorb the nitrogen they need. I find that planting soil with plenty of compost will produce a good crop without inoculating the beans. You can read more about inoculating beans here.

Planting Edamame

Sow edamame soybeans after the last frost date in your area and when the soil has warmed up to 60 degrees F.

Sow seeds 1 inch deep and 3 inches apart. Keep the soil consistently moist, but not soggy, until the beans germinate.

Growing Edamame

Caring for Edamame Plants

Caring for edamame is pretty simple. Just keep the area weeded and give the plants 1 inch of water each week.

Harvesting Edamame

Expect all the beans on a plant to mature at once. They are ready when the pods are plump and bright green. With the right weather and growing conditions you can expect about a quarter pound of beans per plant.

Edamame Seeds

Edamame Seed Sources

Gardeners in areas with a short growing season should select early maturing varieties.

P. Allen Smith Garden Home.

How To Use Pinterest’s Bold New Look | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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As we pass the halfway point of 2013, Pinterest’s rapid growth shows no signs of abating.How to Use Pinterests Bold New Look

According to Reuters, Pinterest has amassed 48.7 million users since its inception three years ago and a study by SimplyMeasured reveals that 69 of the world’s top 100 brands now have Pinterest accounts.

Hot on the heels of the Pinterest business-focused rollouts that we covered earlier, namely account verification, business pages, and the new web analytics tool,  there have been a flurry of updates in recent weeks that have left many business owners scratching their heads. So if you’re feeling a tad confused about Pinterest’s new look and its rich pins, you are not alone.

Here’s a whirlwind tour of the key features of both updates and some pointers on how to use them for your business.

#1. Navigating Pinterest’s New Look

Pinterest has been testing its new look since the beginning of the year but the fact that it isn’t permanent yet is telling.

When the new design first launched Pinterest received a flood of complaints from pinners for removing many of their favorite features, notably Mentions and the Pinned By feature that let you see who had pinned that item.

Many users were disgruntled that they could no longer see the pinning chain and felt that Pinterest was making it harder for them to connect with others.

Pinterest promptly did a U-turn and reintroduced some of the most popular features.

The new look is still being tweaked so certain functions don’t work quite as well as they should. You are not obliged to adopt the new look (yet), but each time you log in, Pinterest will nudge you with this reminder: 

Pinterest 10

Remember, once you hit Get It Now you won’t be able to revert back to the old look.

Why The New Look?

The aim of the new design is to encourage “discovery” through a bolder cleaner look and much bigger pins. Now that the frames between images have been removed, some people may find the close-ups too intense.  Depending on your screen size, it can certainly send your eyes funny!

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 The important point with the new look is to be extra careful when selecting images for Pinterest’s new look. Make sure they are big, bold and engaging. 

1. Pin Options On Home Feed

If you hover over a pin, you now have only 2 options not 3. The bigger Pin It button has replaced the previous Repin but the Like icon remains. You can still click the Like button twice to Unlike an image if you change your mind.

At the bottom of the image you can see who pinned the image and the board on which it was pinned. More than ever, you should take care to select an on-brand username and name your boards using catchy, keyword-rich titles that capture the essence of that board and encourage click-throughs. 

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The Comment feature has disappeared from the home feed entirely, but you can still access it when you click on the pin to enlarge it.

Remember that “pins” don’t just include static 2D images. Pinterest also lets you pin video from sites like Dailymotion, TED, YouTube and Vimeo using the Pin It button. 


Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/06/12/how-to-use-pinterests-bold-new-look/#08AEhw7ZqhabeHdV.99 

 

How To Use Pinterest’s Bold New Look | Jeffbullas’s Blog.

The new Gmail inbox simplifies and customizes with new tabs | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Watch Gmail’s intro video for the new inbox design and they’ll state something many of us are all too familiar with: Inboxes can be overwhelming!

Gmail is offering to help you deal with the clutter that email brings. The new design now features tabs that include primary, social, promotions and updates tabs to help you sort out what’s most important. Emails can easily be dragged from one tab to another leaving you in control of the emails you really need.

Can’t find the new inbox or wondering if you have access to it yet? Check the little gear icon in the upper right-hand corner. If you see “Configure inbox” then you are good to go!

Configure Gmail's New Inbox

See “Configure inbox” in your settings tab? Then you have access to the new inbox design!

Set up your new Inbox preferences

Enable the tabs you want along with an option to include your starred emails.

Gmail's new Inbox Tabs

Your emails automatically get set up according to the tab they belong in. You can easily drag and drop emails to move them to a different tab.

The new inbox is available for your Android 4.0+ devices and iPhone and iPad. Google’s prepped more inbox tips, too.

Watch the video from Gmail here and let me know what you think of the new layout.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/next/the-new-gmail-inbox/#sthash.0HQpNKHg.dpuf

 

Take a look: The new Gmail inbox simplifies and customizes with new tabs | Inman News.

Aspen brokers fighting over $80M in listings | Armonk Real Estate

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A prominent Aspen, Colo.-based real estate broker is suing his former brokerage, saying he was recruited six years ago with a promise that he’d be made a partner in the firm that was never fulfilled, the Aspen Daily News reports.

Gary Feldman, who’s worked in the Aspen market since 1985, is now attempting to transfer clients and $80 million in current listings from Joshua and Co., which fired him, to another brokerage, BJ Adams and Co. Inc., where he now works. Source: aspendailynews.com.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/aspen-brokers-fighting-over-80m-in-listings/#sthash.MBsuIazE.dpuf

 

Aspen brokers fighting over $80M in listings | Inman News.

Buyers taking risks to woo sellers | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Homebuyers are doing more than making high offers to beat out the competition in Massachusetts’ inventory-starved market, The Boston Globe reported.

Many are penning heartfelt notes designed to charm sellers, while others are taking risks like waiving mortgage contingencies and home inspections, according to The Boston Globe. Source: The Boston Globe

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/buyers-taking-risks-to-woo-sellers/#sthash.F8wzMGvE.dpuf

Buyers taking risks to woo sellers | Inman News.

Fannie, Freddie shareholders seek $41B in damages from government | North Salem Real Estate

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The 2008 decision by government regulators to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship may have been “beneficial to the economic welfare of the nation,” but it “trampled the private ownership rights” of shareholders in the company, according to a lawsuit that seeks class-action status to recover $41 billion in damages on behalf of investors. Source: bloomberg.com. – See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/fannie-freddie-shareholders-seek-41b-in-damages-from-government/#sthash.DRKS69Qj.dpuf

 

Fannie, Freddie shareholders seek $41B in damages from government | Inman News.

Shooting quality real estate video on the go with your smartphone | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Video seems to be one of the most difficult mediums for real estate pros to master. While it’s probably also the most effective way to present unique, high-quality content online, the technological barriers and time constraints required to regularly shoot and edit video have always stopped busy real estate pros from taking up the task in earnest.

The value of video to a real estate company or agent with an online brand should be clear

This may be the one format where an individual in a single location is actually more powerful than a national or global company. A portal website with millions of dollars in investor backing can always create bigger websites, more complex graphs, and more in-depth statistical analysis of a neighborhood’s real estate market. “Big data” is clearly the realm of the big portals. What their servers, programmers and salespeople can’t do is walk through your neighborhood, highlight the most important places and sights in your community, and effectively speak to the importance of those locations to local homeowners. A single agent can shoot a video explaining the significance of a new farmers market to traffic and parking in a certain development, and why one neighborhood’s school board seems to be favoring Montessori education while another is trending toward Waldorf. Big data can’t do that.

Recent technology upgrades have made the process of creating quality real estate videos much simpler for busy professionals. While there are certainly instances where a professional video shoot with high-end equipment and editing is appropriate, there are also many instances where a quick, good-quality video will suffice to get informational content out to potential clients on the Web. Since virtually every agent today uses a smartphone, it becomes an easily accessible tool to save time creating quick videos of neighborhoods, tips and educations for clients, testimonials and listings, where appropriate. Video on smartphones has been upgraded radically in the past two years.  Shooting HD video is available on nearly every new smartphone available.

Drawbacks to smartphone videos

The most obvious is the stabilization of the video. A user’s shaky hand is very easy to pick up on a smartphone video. There have been some big advancements in this arena, however, and to effectively shoot stable videos, one of the newest smartphones is necessary. The iPhone 5 has significant stabilization software onboard, which reduces much of the shakiness. The newest Android and Windows phones have developed similar software.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/next/shooting-quality-real-estate-video-on-the-go-with-your-smartphone/#sthash.P8Ut433L.dpuf

 

Shooting quality real estate video on the go with your smartphone | Inman News.