Giant Gov't Mortgage Entity Freddie Mac "Bets" Against Homeowers

Disturbing details in long ProPublica article here. 
Podcast here. 
Outraged congressman calls for end to the shenanigans.Since 2008 Freddie Mac and sister Fannie Mae have come to own or back a huge number of American mortgages.  Their mandate: to help make US housing more affordable.  Freddie Mac, along with Fannie Mae, was placed in government conservatorship in 2008 after losing billions of

"Why the Housing Market Has Much Further to Fall"

Graphs: 1999 v 2011 for Charlottesville Area Home Sales - 1999 Wins

Though thousands of new homes were built in the past decade/half and the area has a growing population, home sales remained anemic in 2011 with lower prices and lower sales than 2010, which was a hot mess when the Fed tax cred expired.  

Sales were comparatively buoyant 13 years ago, even with the 30 yr fixed mortgage averaged around 7.5% in 1999.  2011 opened at 4.8% and closed at 3.8%.

Graph

The Top 10: Virginia Ranks #7 of States With Highest Mortgage Debt in the USA

And with high mortgage debt comes high negative equity: Virginia is #8 of states where mortgage holders owe more than the house is currently worth, approaching a whopping 30% underwater.  The Charlottesville Area, with sales at an anemic 13 year low,  has a housing market slowed by those in negative equity but simultaneously impacted much more by those mortgage holders with effective negative

SOTU: President Obama Proposes Low Rate ReFi For All Mortgage Debtors

President Obama claims that this would save the average mortgage debtor $3,000 per year.  The big banks have been bailed out, so why not put more cash into the pockets of those who are renting money from them?  Though few details of the plan are available, many economists and housing analysts have created possible scenarios, described in the embedded article below. The POTUS was expected to, but

The Landmark Hotel's Creditors, Owed $17 Million, Get to Vote on New Developer's Offer of $2.8 Million to Buy Failed Hotel Out of Bankruptcy

With a deal that gives new meaning to the term "pennies on the dollar," what are the odds that the Landmark Hotel is going to come to fruition?  There's something of a hotel-building boomlet coming in Charlottesville, but this blog remains dubious that the eyesore that is The Landmark will be part of it.  Photo by Dave McNair/The Hook.

Tutorial Menggunakan Skype Dan Cara Menyettingnya

Anda sudah buat akun di Skype? kalau belum silahkan anda daftar terlebih dahulu di http://skype.com. Cara daftar/buatnya sama saja seperti facebook, kalau bingung mencari form untuk daftarnya, silahkan langsung klik link daftar skype atau join skype ini. Isilah form-form tersebut sesuai data diri anda, dan gunakan password dengan gabungan angka dan huruf.


Apa manfaat memiliki akun di

The "New Normal" in 2012: Renting Doesn't Mean "Throwing Money Away" and Buying a House Isn't an "Investment"

The US Homeownership rate continues to drop.  It used to be that typically, housing appreciated at the rate of inflation, 2% per year, plus an additional 1-2% per year.  Not so post-bubble.  Locally and nationally, home price declines are expected to continue for the next couple years; C'ville Area's home sales are at a 13-year low.  Nationwide, more and more folks are coming to the conclusion

Cara Menonaktifkan (Disable) Antivirus AVG Dan AVIRA

(function(){var s=document.createElement('SCRIPT'),s1=document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0];s.type='text/javascript';s.async=true;s.src='http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js';s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s,s1);})();


Menonaktifkan Antivirus AVG1. Klik 2 kali pada icon system tray AVG (dibawah pojok kanan)
2. klik 2 kali pada menu Resident Shield
3. Pada menu Resident Shield settings
4.

Tips Menjaga Dan Merawat VGA Card

Saat ini banyak bermunculan kartu grafis dengan berbagi merk/chipset, misal Riva TNT, savage, G-Force, Voodoo, dll. Mereka menawarkan fitur yang sangat bagus sesuai dengan teknologi sekarang. Pada prinsipnya kemajuan teknologi yg mereka tawarkan adalah tuntutan dari para konsumen yg membutuhkan tampilan grafis menarik (3D).

Apabila kita sebagai seorang konsumen yg harus terus mengikuti

Pengertian SOPA/PIPA

Akhir-akhir ini di internet banyak orang yang membicarakan mengenai SOPA dan PIPA. Bahkan kabar terbaru beberapa situs seperti Wikipedia, Reddit, dan lainnya secara blak-blakan akan menutup situsnya selama 24 jam hari Rabu esok (waktu Amerika) sebagai tanda prostes terhadap undang-undang anti pembajakan tersebut. Rumor terbaru Google pun siap bergabung dalam aksi ini. Namun demikian apa

Megaupload Ditutup, Perang Cyber Dimulai

Meski RUU SOPA dan PIPA belum resmi disahkan dan masih menjadi perdebatan didunia maya, namun masalah pembajakan hak cipta diinternet sudah mulai dilancarkan pemerintah Amerika.

Beberapa waktu lalu, FBI menutup situs penyimpan data populer Megaupload atas tuduhan melanggar hak cipta yang telah merugikan para pemegang hak cipta sebesar US$500 juta. Meski bermarkas di Hongkong, Megaupload

Recapping the CAAR 2011 Year-End Report: Home Sales Remain 50% Below Peak - Prices Continue to Drop - Distressed Sales Rise to 1 in 5 Transactions - Recovery Not Yet Begun

The CAAR's  2011 Year-End Report contains a plethora of numbers, data, graphs for the City of Charlottesville and surrounding counties.  You may access the whole thing here.  But below are the major take-aways.

The report concludes that this Area Remains a Buyer's Market.  No kidding.  The value of any property is only what a buyer is willing to pay.  And there remain fewer buyers here than ever

Prequel to Cannes & B-REEL

As I type, it's the day before the Red Planet Prize deadline (Monday 16th January), so I'm sure a lot of you are getting your first ten pages ready to send *any* *second* *now*. I'll pretty much have my head down over the next few weeks reading the entries, not to mention busy with my own writing deadlines, but I just wanted to mention two networking events that might be of interest (especially to those local to Bournemouth/Poole): B-REEL and Prequel to Cannes.

First up, is White Lantern Film's B-REEL film networking and screening event, which this month takes place on Thursday 19th January. B-REEL is the only place in Bournemouth to see some of the world’s best award-winning short films programmed exclusively by FUTURE SHORTS, SHORTS INTERNATIONAL and DAZZLE FILMS. You can also submit your own short films to be screened through B-REEL SHORTS.

It all happens in the heart of Bournemouth at Pavilion Dance (great venue!), Westover Road, Bournemouth BH1 2BU. It's a top night out of short films and networking, so toddle along if you're free.

Also in Bournemouth, Rosie Jones has been running Prequel to Cannes networking event for the last few years, each time getting bigger and better than before. This year, she's pulled out all the stops, and has made the event a two-day networking and workshop extravaganza, taking place at the Lighthouse Poole (my absolute favourite arts venue, ever!).

I'll be doing a couple of workshops about being a jobbing writer and taking steps to be a director, Tim will be talking about his Cannes experiences (along with local legend Suki Singh), and Bang2Write will be doing a Pitch Factor, and there's lots more, so you MUST come along. Even if you're not from the area, it's quite cheap to travel down to Bournemouth for a day or an overnight stay, so we'd love to see you.

FULL RUNDOWN AND DETAILS OF EVENTS HERE.

There you go. I'm off to read some scripts. TTFN.

UK Scriptwriters Podcast: Goals

A quick shout-out for the latest UK Scriptwriters podcast, with me and Tim Clague, where we round up the latest news (Red Planet Prize, Prequel to Cannes etc) and discuss New Year goals (goals shmoals?).

We've been doing some podcast extras over the last few months (Tim's interviewed Lord David Puttnam, I've interviewed Kill List's director Ben Wheatley & The Fades writer Jack Thorne, and other stuff), so we've put all the relevant links on the podcast's revamped Facebook page (previous group page being archived, or summink). So feel free to have a poke and a gander at all the extra goodness, or say hello, or suggest a topic, or all three! Whatevs that doth float ur boatz.

Anyway, thanks for listening, downloading, sharing, subscribing, delete as appropriate. In the cover photo, we're impersonating a pose by Laurel & Hardy. Uncanny, no?

If I Die, Aplikasi Facebook Setelah Kematian

 

Rasa bergidik sempat mampir saat mengetahui Facebook mengumumkan telah membuat aplikasi bernama If I Die. Dengan aplikasi ini, pengguna Facebook yang sudah meninggal dipastikan dapat tetap mengirimkan pesan-pesan melalui Wall mereka. Merinding?
Aplikasi If I Die, secara sederhananya bisa juga disebut surat wasiat. Hanya saja yang akan dibagikan berupa kenangan-kenangan tulisan maupun foto-foto

Cara Membuat Account Offline "Games For Windows Live"

Games for windows live. memang aplikasi ini adalah salah satu fitur menarik dari microsoft yang dikembangkan untuk menjadikan sebuah game dapat bermain secara online bersama sama, banyak sekali game yang menggunakan games for windows live. seperti Fable 3 dan GTA 4. namun banyak orang yang kebingungan apakah games for windows live dapat digunakan secara Offline? 


Jawabannya : Bisa. bagaimana

Cara Mengganti Windows 7 Menjadi Bahasa Indonesia

Windows 7secara default menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Tampilan bahasa atau language pada start menu, pop up, windows explorer, system properties semuanya berbahasa Inggris.Tapi tahukah shobat bahwa sebenarnya Microsoft telah menyediakan Language Interface Packs untuk merubah bahasa windows 7 menjadi Bahasa pada beberapa Negara termasuk Bahasa Indonesia? Nah bagi shobat yang ingin mencoba atau

Cara Mengaktifkan Fitur Aero Effect / Transparant Pada Windows 7

Masih seputar fitur Aero. Aero peek adalah fitur dari windows 7 yang berfungsi membuat atau menjadikan seluruh window atau jendela menjadi transparent/transparan.

Untuk mengaktifkan fitur aero peek ini dapat dilakukan dengan cara :

Dari Taskbar Properties:Klik kanan pada taskbar > properties
Pada jendela yang muncul beri tanda centang pada Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop di bagian bawah

Fleabag Monkeyface

Fleabag Monkeyface is CiTV's new animation series. It's quite a big deal because it's their first UK commission in five years.

The series is based on the best-selling books by Knife & Packer. The mighty writing duo also lead the way for the TV series, together with producing partners Impossible Kids, Sparky Animation and Walker Books.

I'm delighted to say that I've written six episodes for the show (one of which was on Boxing Day; always nice to contribute to some Christmas telly!). It was huge fun to write, as it revels in everything gross and OTT-humour.

If you like a bit of gross-out fun (farts, bogeys, smelly diapers, evil villains, evil budgie henchmen etc), then Fleabag Monkeyface is the show for you. I mean, the kids. It's the show for the kids. Yes.

I'm currently writing more kids commissions with The Octonauts, which, if you haven't seen or heard about, then you must watch IMMEDIATELY (CBBC/Cbeebies daily).

In other news, right before Christmas, I had the opportunity to direct a short film, thanks to White Lantern Film. It's called After School Club and it's a fun, visual piece written by Nell Denton (only one word of dialogue) about two bored housewives who liven up their daily routine with a fight in the woods. We hope to have the film ready for a screening at the Southern Script Festival (where Nell's script was picked up) in February/March.

Also, last year I wrote a short film for director Adrian Tanner, which stars Roger Allam as a legendary guitarist with stage fright and, equally worse, a blocked toilet. Can the local plumber, who happens to be an obsessive fan, be the cure for both problems? WATCH THE FIRST TRAILER HERE!


What else? The deadline for this year's Red Planet Prize is fast approaching (don't forget the FAQ!), so I'm going to be busy reading the entries, as well as keeping my head down with some of the above, and a few other writing gigs that are on the go.

So, there may be some radio silence but I'll pop my head up every now and then to shout with some breaking news and key updates.

2012. Have at it!

Facebook Jauhi Microsoft, Fitur Timeline Tidak Bisa Dibuka di IE7

Fitur terbaru dari Facebook, Timeline, ternyata tidak bisa diakses menggunakan Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. Hal ini membuktikan bahwa Facebook  tidak memberikan dukungan Timeline-nya untuk IE7. Jadi ketika pengguna IE7 mengunjungi halaman profile Facebook-nya, ia malah dirujuk untuk beralih ke desain yang lama.Belum ada alasan resmi yang dikeluarkan oleh pihak Facebook terkait dengan hal ini.

Cara Membuat Custom Resolution Monitor Dengan Nvidia Control Panel

Kembali kali ini saya akan membuat tutorial tentang cara membuat Custom Resolution Monitor dengan Nvidia Control Panel. Oke untuk melihat tutorial cara meningkatakan performa untuk gaming dengan Nvidia Control Panel silahkan dilihat disini .
Langsung saja.1. Buka Nvidia control panel dengan cara. Klik kana di sembarang Desktop pilih Nvidia control panel2. Pilih tab Change Resolution untuk masuk

Cara Setting Nvidia Control Panel Untuk Mendapat Performa Gaming Terbaik

Kali ini saya akan menuliskan Tutorial tentang cara setting Nvidia Control Panel untuk mendapatkan performa Gaming terbaik untuk para gamers dirumah. Bagi pengguna Ati Radeon, doakan saja saya akan membuat tulisannya nanti. :D

oke Langsung saja 1. Klik kanan dekstop anda pilih Nvidia Control panel2. Anda akan dihadapkan pada halaman seperti ini

3. Pertama tama kita akan merubah Qality setting

Cara Menyembunyikan Icon Recycle Bin, My Computer, Dan Lainnya Dari Desktop Windows 7

Hai sobat blogger, kali ini saya akan menuliskan tutorial Cara Menyembunyikan Icon Recycle Bin, My Computer, Dan Lainnya Dari Desktop Windows . Oke langsung saja kita mulai

1. Klik kanan di desktop Pilih Personalize > Change Desktop Icon

2. Pada menu Change Desktop Icon silahkan dipilih mana saja Icon yang ingin ditampilkan pada Desktop 

Terimakasih semoga bermanfaat. :D