Don Tomato's Weblog

Kindle vs Nook- Reading PDF books

dontomato — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:30:58 +0000

My geeky friend got a Kindle for Christmas. He found an article on line on how to load pdf files on Kindle. So we poked around and downloaded latest firmware. For test purpose we loaded a technical book in pdf format with diagrams etc. It worked! but font looks small and you can’t change font size as you can with kindle books.
Very disappointing!!
I have lots of books in adobe pdf format.
But my other friend just got a Nook and we ran the same test. .. And boom!!! it worked and Nook let you change the font size.
So if you planning to use pdf books Nook is a better choice. Wondering how apple ipad will handle pdf reading…

G Spot Mouse – perfect time for Valentine’s Day

dontomato — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:17:00 +0000

This is a cool concept mouse by Yanko Design. This mouse has a secret spot(hint: it’s a button. When you find it, to your favorite place on the computer it’s connected to you will go, be it your email provider or your favorite industrial design blog news website.

website: http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/02/11/you-mouse-around-here-often/

Apple Ipad is not even out yet but other countries are ready to cash in on the “next Iphone thing”

dontomato — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:10:05 +0000

ok this is hilarious! Apple Ipad has not been officially released yet but there are already offers out there for exporting to other countries. Remember USA gets it first and other countries will get it like 6 months later or so. Type in ipad exporter and there are whole bunch of offers on tradekey.com etc. Or even a website- ipadexporters.com. Are they planing to sell crates and crates of Apple Ipads? ! Everybody wants to profit on it – I remember reading when Iphone just came out – it cost $2000 in Brazil, Moscow, Europe, Japan etc
What if Ipad is gonna be a flap?

Ripoff Realtor in Huntington NY – Long Island Realty Agents – Parnagian, Robert

dontomato — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:40:31 +0000

I’ve been helping my sister to look for a house in Huntington. I’ve been monitoring various web resources for past 6 month.

I just came across of this price discrepancy in listing.

Check this out.

I saw this house when it came on the market listed for $549,000. It was never priced $575,000!

Yes it just got reduced to $535,000 and now $549,000 price is not there anymore. It got replaced with $575,000!!!! That’s a fraud!!! What a sleazy Realtor!!! Thinking that price drop from 575k to 535k will sound more convincing to the buyer?! That’s just low!!

Is it legal to change original price of the house?! Can realtor’s license be suspended for something like this?

Shame on you guys!

Too many real estate agents nowadays and only few good ones.

This is Real Estate not Macy’s 80% off diamonds event – where in reality they multiply suggested retail price by 6-8 and give you a 15% off regular price.

see the listing: http://www.trulia.com/property/1081725998-23-Panorama-Dr-Huntington-NY-11743

Is it possible that MLS system has a flaw in it and allows agents to go and change things to whatever they want to without protecting original data including original listing price?

23-Panorama-Dr-Huntington-NY-11743

Contact agent: Parnagian, Robert A
Broker: Long Island Realty Agents Inc

ok, here it is. Just found the proof that this house has been listed previously for $549,000 not $575,000!!! I found listing on hotpads.com so changes that these bastards did in MLS did not get propagated there yet. I did a screen capture but as you know this info can get updated in hotpads.com any minute because listing info is read from mlsli.com. – look at the image:

Headshots Photography in New York – recommmendations?

dontomato — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:14:12 +0000

A friend of mine wants to try some corporate modeling – she works for the agency. I am going to need a portfolio! I’ve read on various forums (for actors and models) that this portfolio would be your playing card. It has to be done really well and professionally. I was recommended one headshot photographer – David Martin in Chelsea.
His portfolio on the website looks really sleek with nice colors – actors, celebrities but his prices seem to be very reasonable – $250 for a basic headshot session.
Has anybody worked with him before?
Any recommendation what else I need for the basic portfolio?

Jobless Rate is scary – NYC

dontomato — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:58:22 +0000

The nation’s unemployment rate rose to a higher-than-expected 7.6 percent in January as businesses shed 598,000 jobs.
Wonder what are the numbers in New York area.
Budget officials assume the city will have shed 294,000 jobs from mid-2008 through 2010, the highest official estimate by government officials yet, including 46,000 in financial industries.
Bloomberg has proposed cutting the city budget by about $1 billion and raising its sales tax to help close a $4 billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.
Via NYPOST

I can legally live and work in USA now! libertad! :-)

dontomato — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:47:52 +0000

YEAH!!!!!!!After struggling for almost 15 years!!! Last year my parents thought about going back to Mexico!
God Bless America!
It’s a big thing for us. We all can legally live and work in USA now! Hopefully one day we’ll become US citizens and settle here for good.

Our lawyer Dan Panitz did a tremendous job!. If you ever need immigration lawyer (abogado de inmigración) or have legal questions.

here is his info -

Panitz & Associates(habla en español)
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 400-7234 Main
web:www.lawgroup1.com
blog:Immigration Law Forum

email: danpanitz@yahoo.com

Homes Facing Foreclosure Jump 57% in January

dontomato — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:15:50 +0000

The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57% in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn’t unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday.

Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices.

The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions.

“You have more people going into default and a higher percentage of the properties going back to the banks,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s vice president of marketing.

I signed up with Realtytrac for 7 day free membership that allows you to search for foreclosures in your area. Doesn’t cost you anything for 7 day but you can get an idea. Home Bargains! Sign up for your Free 7-day trial at
RealtyTrac.

Foreclosures on the rise in New York area! Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn!

dontomato — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:16:26 +0000

I just checked foreclosures in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island and its insane! We’ve been looking for a house for past 3 years and I am hoping to find a home next year before summer. Sick and tired of helping my landloard. I was suprised on how many houses are there – Suffolk – Nothport, Nassau – Port Washington ,Great Neck, Sea Cliff! I just signed up with Realtytrac for 7 day free membership that allows you to search for foreclosures in your area. Doesn’t cost you anything for 7 day but you can get an idea. Home Bargains! Sign up for your Free 7-day trial at
RealtyTrac.

Foreclosures on the Rise. What’s next?

dontomato — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:39:08 +0000

Banks are posting billions in losses, Feds lowered the rate – but who cares, nobody is buying anyway. Our country is using foreign money not to go into government foreclosure and keep economy somewhat a float(would’ve been a recession 5 years back). Prices and affordability went so out of hand so it sounds more like they try to sell us Bentley as an everyday car with ridiculous 10% discount!! The word foreclosure returns 3,880,000 searches in google. Wanna buy your neighbor’s castle(which was probably financed with ARM!) check out wiseforeclosures.com for listings in your area.