An article in Media Post noted: "Mothers are generally acknowledged as "CEOs of the household".

That's no joke. In my house, Jen gets going on any housing decision and makes most of the household buying decisions. I'm a guy, I'm just happy to have veto power.

In our market, home and apartments, women are key descison-makers. Our first marketing for our new housing and apartment applications target women.

After married folks, single women are the next largest buyers of homes - double that of their single male counterparts.

Women rule real estate.

Here's some more from the media post article..."While moms may not have time to fiddle around on YouTube and MySpace, they land on the Web for everything from parenting tips to advice on school districts and kids' health information. They research product and service options diligently. Nearly 95 percent of moms polled in a Haystack Group survey go online at least once a day, with 88 percent relying on the Web for parental guidance and tips, 86 percent shopping online, and 85 percent actually clicking on an online ad...And, unlike the stereotypical male who won't ask for assistance no matter how lost or clueless he may be, moms seek out similarly situated peers for advice and product recommendations. More than 90 percent of mothers in the Haystack survey prefer to purchase brands recommended by other moms."

Santa has a new tool to make sure you are being good - and it turns out he's running trials with the FBI.

File this under -- I bet you did not know this --

RCR Wireless news has an interesing piece on how "the FBI is using wiretap law to eavesdrop on conversations by remotely firing up microphones on idle cell phones of unwitting criminal suspects."

Turns out the control channel on your phone (used to send you network updates, etc.) can actually be used to turn on your phone and pick up conversations. Only by warrant of course.

Really..and it's not even April fools, this is true.

Relax, if you are doing something the FBI or other law enforcements agencies might have an interest in getting a warrant to learn more...turns out by taking out your battery they can't use your phone against you as it won't power-up. So when sitting in a cafe talking trash, take off your battery, ALL the wiseguys are doing it.

Plus it turns out once they use your cell phone to eavesdrop, you have to turn off your cell phone to reboot before you can make a call...I hate when that happens....

Between 1995 and 2005, the number of Latino owner-occupied homes increased by 3.1 million, reaching 6.9 million. That's an 81% increase compared to a 19% increase for all other non-Latino owner-occupied homes, according to the National Association for Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' Web site.

In the next 20 years, Latinos are expected to make up 40% of all first-time home buyers, according to the Web site.

Inman News - INTERNET REAL ESTATE STATS

Nearly two in five adult Internet users in the United States, or 39 percent, have looked online for information about a place to live -- double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Overall, more than a quarter of all adults in the United States, or 27 percent, have looked online for information about housing, more than double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000 (13 percent).

Younger Internet users were more likely to seek housing information online than older Web users. Fifty-one percent of Internet users 18-29 years old have searched online for housing information, compared with 43 percent of Internet users 30-49 years old, 27 percent of Internet users 50-64 years old, and 15 percent of Internet users age 65 and older.

Moreover, 9 percent of Internet users 18-29 years old reported in August that they looked for housing information on a typical day, more than double the percentage (4 percent) in this age group who said the same thing two years earlier.

The number of years a person has been an Internet user and the type of Internet connection they have at home were two other characteristics associated with the likelihood of seeking housing information online, according to the study. Those who have been online six years or more are significantly more likely than shorter-time users to have done this: 45 percent of these veteran users have looked online for housing information; compared with 30 percent of those who have been online 4-5 years; 24 percent of those online for 2-3 years; and 22 percent of those online one year or less. In addition, 45 percent of those with broadband connections at home have looked online for housing information, compared with 30 percent of those with home dial-up connections, according to Pew.

The study also found that by August 2006, about half of all Internet users (51 percent) had taken virtual tours, up from 45 percent in November 2004. Also, nearly onethird of all Internet users (30 percent) have used online classified ads or sites such as Craigslist,up from 22 percent in September 2005.

So I walk into Best Buy, and I am ready buy a computer for my son. It's the week before Xmas, I promised my wife I would take care of it before Xmas, so I am walking out with one.

I'm in Best Buy anyway dropping off 1 of the computers in the office to see if they can fix it. We buy about 5 laptops and 10 desktops and warranties and lots of support stuff in Best Buy each year for work and family.

Guess what, no one will help me.

The store is not busy. A few folks offer to find someone, there are as many computer folks stocking the shelves rather than help me.

So, I wait about 15 minutes. Then f-them.

I go back to the office, log onto dell.com. Drop 1000 bucks, place an order. Heck, there's hope for the Internet!

No when I tell my brother, the story, he says you know we have a corporate account at Dell and get a nice discount, so you left 30% or so on the table.

So I am of course aggravated in his management style not telling me all the options as he knew I was going to Best Buy :).

So here it is Sunday morning. Dell sends me a comfirmation telling me the delivery date is Dec 25.

Yikes!

Not only did I spend more than I had too, my wife is going to kill me unless I call Dell and pay $70.00 more to overnight the computer so I get it before X-Mas.

I call Dell, and guess what. The first thing out of the rep's mouth is....We will overnight it to you free of charge, and I will make a request that the computer is shipped before the 20th when we promised it.

So what do I do...I write this blog which is akin to being an ADVOCATE for Dell. An advocate is the kind of customer you want!

Lesson re-learned about the power of customer service.

Let's hope I actually get computer on time! But feeling good about Dell today!

Here's an interesting GPS tidbit from Moco News reporting on projections from a leading cell phone/content vendor:

GPS-Enabled Location Based Services (LBS) Will Be Killer Applications—“According to ABI Research, subscribers using GPS-enabled location-based services will total 315 million in five years. “GPS” is now the most popular search term on Handango.com”.