By: Barbara Lipkin

Although many poo poo the printed words of newspapers, I have read some excellent articles recently in the Los Angeles Times. Yesterday on Super Bowl Sunday, Rosanna Xia interviewed Gil Elbaz notorious for co-founding Applied Semantics Inc. This company built technology that connects related online subject matter and was purchased by Google in 2003 for $102 million.

What I found most interesting though, is Elbaz’s perspective on work and motivation. He describes a summer job during college when he sold vacuum cleaners door to door. He discovered that 1 out of every 10 people would buy a vacuum and he earned a $200 commission. He turned that around by saying he was earning $20 for each presentation. Today, he is the founder and chief executive of Factual Inc., a company that aggregates and organizes huge amounts of online data. Obviously he is hugely successful. However, his perspective is valuable for all of us.

Attention Calabasas Homeowners

By: Barbara Lipkin

Time flies. It is almost February 1st as we enjoy incredible California sunshine-another day in paradise. Fortunately, Lew Sichelman reporting in this Sunday’s LA Times, has reminded us that tax relief on mortgage debt forgiveness ends in 2013. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 allows taxpayers to “exclude from income the discharge of debt on their principal residence”. Although, homeowners have until the end of 2012, it may very well take up to 11 months to persuade banks to foreclose or sell homes for a lesser value than they are worth. With short sales taking months, it is time to remind our short sale sellers to get their properties on the market if they want to take advantage of “the most important tax-relief provisions enacted by Congress during the housing crisis to help financially strapped homeowners” per Mr. Sichelman. Definitely something to consider.

By: Barbara Lipkin

A huge number of iPads were sold this year. They were definitely an item on Christmas wish lists. And now they can solve crimes. Those lucky iPad & iPhone owners know they should activate the app to FIND their iPad or iPhone. This tracker helped solve 2 home burglaries & saved Christmas for 2 families.

A Westlake Village resident was awakened by noise at 3:30 AM on Christmas Day.  He spotted the intruder who ran away.  His home had been burglarized & among items stolen was an Apple iPad.  He called the Sheriff’s Station & told deputies the stolen iPad was giving a signal from a nearby house. Not only did they recover the iPad but also arrested the suspect.  He is a resident of Vista who was visiting the area.

Our wonderful  & smart Malibu/Lost Hills deputies and detectives conducted a thorough follow-up investigation, which led them to information regarding a burglary which occurred in Vista, on December 22, 2011. Two flat-screen televisions, a laptop computer, and more than 40 Christmas presents belonging to children were stolen in the burglary in Vista.

They contacted San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies who police the community of Vista.  They conduced a search inside the suspect’s home in Vista.  They found all of the stolen property from the Vista burglary.

The Vista victim began to cry when she was told the good news.“Deputy Brower saved Christmas!”

Using this app on the iPad saved Christmas for two families.  I think that is something to be thankful for – technology can help solve crimes..

Can you believe this?

By: Barbara Lipkin

There are so many ways that companies try to sell their products to us – cookies on our computer, commercials on TV and the internet; even sponsors for blogs. Now they are after our dogs. My dogs, Charly & Teddy, do seem interested when they see other dogs on TV. But this is above and beyond. Nestle has designed a TV ad for dogs. They are one of the world’s biggest makers of pet food. They have launched the 1st TV commercial designed especially for dogs using a high-frequency tone to grab their attention. Dog’s hearing is twice as sharp as humans.

The commercial will be screened on Austrian TV this week & features a tone similar to a dog whistle that humans can barely hear as well as an audible squeak like a dog’s toy including a high pitched pink. The dog is shown pricking his ears. Next thing you know your dog will tear out a page from you magazine that shows a dog food that smells like steak so you buy him what he smells.

By: Barbara Lipkin

Just one hour away is the delightful Santa Barbara Zoo, formerly A Child’s Estate.

Compact & easy to get around, it is the perfect place to take young children or just stroll around & enjoy the grounds & the animals. When you enter, the baby otters are delightful.
They are playing & tumbling. My little granddaughter, Emma, could not get over their antics. On our way out, they had crashed & were sleeping in a ball of fur.  The giraffes are fun to feed as you watch their long tongues grap the lettuce. The grounds are beautiful & well maintained & a train takes you on a short ride.  In addition, the weather is perfect – our own Riviera. There are special events on the weekends.  Sometimes we forget that such wonderful places are right in our backyard.

By: Barbara Lipkin

The city of Hidden Hills celebrated its 50th anniversary as an incorporated city with its annual Fiesta. Beginning with an outside concert on Friday night, the celebration continued with the parade on Saturday morning.  Among the parade ‘s highlights were the firetrucks, marching bands from Calabasas H.S. & El Camino H. S. & the famous dog walkers headed ny Angel with their large assortment of Golden Retrievers,pugs, poodles & other assorted breeds. The day continued with games, pet contest, bake sale & Tommy’s hamburgers.  In the evening we had the big rides & barbecue. An art show, pancake breakfast & other events completed the weekend.

Everyone has been hearing about foreclosures for years now. We have even heard about how the banks have been forced to start the process over after they used companies that rubber stamped the documents. This is even better – go on vacation and lose your house to foreclosure, even if you haven’t defaulted.

So here’s the story, an 82 year old retired Floridian went out of town for a few weeks and came back to an empty house. No furniture, no clothes, not even trash. He found a padlocked door and a sign for a company that cleans out properties in foreclosure. Interestingly enough, Benito Santiago Sr.’s home wasn’t in foreclosure according to public records. So what happened?

Well, Bank Of America, known for their mass-manufacture of foreclosure errors, sent a crew to a condo at 4255 W. Humphrey St in Hillsborough County, Florida. The crew ended up going to Santiago’s home by mistake. Something about Santiago’s mailbox really confused them. On one side, the mailbox displayed the number “4205.” But on the other side, the “0″ was missing.

The land formerly known as “4255 W Humphrey St.” does not exist in Hillsborough County Property Appraiser records. Santiago’s property is surrounded on three sides by Grand Reserve, a condominium complex that once used that address. Others have arrived in error to 4205.

To read more go to: foreclosure – huffingtonpost.com

The not so mysterious QR code

By: Barbara Lipkin

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Everywhere you go, they are popping up. Walking through the mall on a shop window, looking at an ad in the newspaper, receiving an ad in the mail. What are they? Called quick response codes, they are the barcodes for the digital age but they convey far more information & can be scanned by consumers with smartphones to open a web page, play a video or even place a call.

The technology has been around for years but only recently embraced probably because smart phones have gotten smarter. In 2009, 80,000 scans were recorded per month. Now that number has soared to 2 million a month.

They are the hottest new tool of mobile advertising. They are cheap & you can put them anywhere including the back of a stadium seat. Home Depot customers get on the spot access to how-to guides & videos. Real estate companies, such as Sotheby’s, uses them on the front of their office, in their mailings & even on signs. They are a perfect complement to a brochure where you can then view the video.

Consumer awareness still lags behind. Only 5% of the total smartphone owners in the US have scanned QR’s. However, it is on a sharp curve upward. Lady Gaga has partnered with Starbucks for a promotion that’s triggered by scanning QR’s on signs in the coffee shop. Some trendy bars are putting them on drink glasses. Even a tattoo parlor owner inked QR codes into customers. This way, they don’t have to devote a quarter of their body for listing their family members.

Sometimes, there is lag time. At the El Capital Theater in Hollywood recently, dozens of 20 & 30 somethings lined up to see the latest “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Placards passed through the crowd urged patrons to scan the large QR on them. Those who did would get free popcorn. No one took out a phone. As one young woman said, what the heck is this?

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

By: Barbara Lipkin

With the emphasis on saving money and protecting the economy, I am always on the lookout for new uses for old products.  I came across some secret uses for vinegar.  I have not tried them yet, but I thought they were of interest to share.  They are:

• Spray full strength on weeds until they starve.
• Clean pots with white vinegar before re-potting to remove excess lime.
• Remove skunk odor from a dog by rubbing his fur with full strength vinegar. Don’t forget to rinse.
• Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting by dousing the area with vinegar.
• Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites.
• Use white vinegar to rinse your hair to remove residue and leaves it shiny.
• Make clothes smell fresh by adding vinegar to the rinse cycle instead of fabric softener.
• Immerse T-shirts in white vinegar to get rid of the yellow armpit stains (that is yucky).
• Clean your irons and steam irons with vinegar to avoid build up.
• Clean china with vinegar to remove coffee & tea stains.
• Deodorize the following: kitchen drain & sink, smelly lunch box
• Add a couple of tablespoons to a bowl and leave it on the kitchen counter. Supposed to get rid of food odors such as fish.
• Clean the microwave by boiling a 1/4 cup of vinegar to loosen splattered food. Afterward use a cloth to wipe the microwave clean.
• Kill germs in the bathroom by wiping down fixtures with a rag damp with vinegar.
• Clean soap scum, mildew and grime from the bathtub, tile and curtains by wiping down with vinegar and rinsing with water.
• Clean your glasses by using a drop of vinegar and a lint-free cloth ( I liked this one-I can never find my eyeglass spray.  .
• Instead of using toner in your beauty routine, use vinegar to clean your face (seems sour).
• Relieve a sore throat by gargling with vinegar.
• Have itchy feet? Immerse your feet in vinegar to fight athlete’s foot.
• Toenails turning yellow? Fight nail fungus by saturating your nails with vinegar. Apparently, tea tree oil also helps.
• Eliminate animal urine stains and odor from carpet by wiping it clean with an old rag and vinegar.
• Unclog a shower head by immersing in vinegar.
• Remove decals, bumper stickers, or price tag by wiping down with vinegar. Alcohol also helps.
• Spray vinegar around doors and window frames, under appliances and along other known ant trails to repeal them.
• Add to water and food coloring to make dyed eggs even brighter.
• Rid your toilet bowl of rusty rings with a diluted vinegar solution.
• Rub on windows with newspaper or cloth to get a clearer view.
• Kill mold with vinegar instead of bleach ( I wonder if they mean mildew).
• Combine with lemons and baking soda for an all purpose cleaner.
• Mix with salt to form a paste. Apply to remove discoloration from copper-bottomed pots and pans. Let sit, then scrub with steel-wool.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Peng Wenle Rescued

By: Barbra Lipkin

We are all aware of Facebook, Twitter, Linked & other sites.  Recently, they have come into play in dramatic ways. The Egyptian situation was begun by a Google executive and others using social networking. Recently, I came across an article regarding the use of microblogs in finding abducted children. In movies and on television, we have seen story lines where boy children have been kidnapped from their parents in China. With China still basically a one child society, this has dramatic repercussions. To lose a child is horrible. To make matters worse, it may not be possible to have another child. In March 2008, 3 year old Peng Wenle vanished into the night from outside the family’s small shop. The perpetrator was not able to be identified due to the grainy images and lack of clues.  An all-out campaign by Chinese microbloggers to circulate photographs of abducted children has led to the boy’s reunions with his family. A university student who has seen an Internet posting by the child’s father on sina.com which hosts a Chinese version of Twitter, thought the missing child looked a lot like a 66-year old boy he has seen in a village about 800 miles away. He em-mailed a photograph of the boy to the father who recognized the child as his son. DNA tests have confirmed the relationship.

Child abduction is a scourge for China’s poor. Thousands have disappeared with boys being the most common. They are sold for as much as $10,000 to families that are childless or without sons. What an amazing way to use social networking and microblogs. They have made it far easier to find children because of the speed with which information can be conveyed.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.