Please click on the realbiz link to view this beautiful home for sale in Cibolo Canyons, the place to live in San Antonio. You can also visit www.MyCiboloCanyonsDreamHome.com to view this home and others for sale in Cibolo Canyons and the San Antonio TX area.
MARIO HESLES
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
Some might say that a new calendar year is nothing to celebrate. We commemorate no victories, no fallen heroes, or historic events. We simply celebrate the coming and going of another year—an event as unremarkable as it is inevitable. And yet, there is something in us that yearns to have clear dividing lines in our lives, clear milestones within our individual and collective journeys. Since the beginning of recorded time, the beginning of a new year has offered a milestone on which to gaze back at the year before and reflect on what is truly important. Perhaps more importantly, it has always signaled a chance for a new beginning, a chance to make right what went wrong, and a chance to cherish what went right.
As I reflect on what went right in 2011 and what I wish to cherish in 2012, the relationships in my life come immediately to mind. If you are reading this right now, it’s because you are, at least in some small way, and perhaps in very big and meaningful ways, a part of my life. As we celebrate the new year, I would like to thank you for your business, your friendship, and your love. Best wishes for a year full of love and laughter. Happy New Year!
www.MyCiboloCanyonsDreamHome.com
Two events coming up in early 2012 may change the way you use your mobile phone. The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show will be January 10 through January 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the 2012 Mobile World Congress will be in Barcelona from February 27 through March 1. As we look forward to the two events, here are some space-aged concept phones that are garnering attention.
DrawBraille Phone
The design of this phone is long overdue and very much needed. The phone features touch-input and Braille dots that allow blind users to read the phone menu, access the phonebook, read emails and text messages, read ebooks, and check battery status. The display is simple and offers basic cell phone capabilities, but the Braille makes this phone truly special and unique. This phone was designed as part of a school project by Shikun Sun when he was studying industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.
Turntable Dial Phone
Mukund K P, a designer from India, has created a cell phone that seamlessly blends nostalgia with technology. The cell phone features a turntable (or rotary), just like phones from years past. For those who like modern functions there is a QWERTY keypad that slides out, as well as a touchscreen. Using the rotary has advantages though. Every time a caller dials the number using the rotary, the cell phone is charged by the energy generated.
Paper Origami Phone
There are disposable phones on the market now, but none as cool or as disposable as this one. This phone is created by a Chinese designer, but uses the Japanese art of origami to achieve a unique design. The phone is made out of durable paper that is eco-friendly and can easily be ripped up and tossed in the nearest trash can when no longer needed. This design is perfect for those who just want to use a cell phone for a while and then dispose it; for instance, when on a business trip or vacation.
Nokia HumanForm Phone
The human form can bend and twist, so why can’t a cell phone? This cell phone will bend and twist right along with the user. The electro-tactile surface can change its shape depending on the user’s needs. This cell phone was created by Nokia in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Nokia Research Center.
Sony Ericsson Nypon LT22i Phone
This phone is still just a rumor, but if the rumors are true, this phone would feature a qHD display, a NovaThor U8500 processor, a dual core 1GHz unit, support for 1080p video recording, HDMI and USB connectivity, and the ability to support cameras of up to 20 megapixels. These statistics would make this phone pretty amazing.
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If you aren’t quite in the holiday spirit yet, here are the top ten Christmas movies of all time that will put you in a great mood.
This one is at the very top of the list for being the most loved and most watched movie according to the national media. If you’ve watched it, you know why it’s such a winner; if you haven’t, prepare to be enchanted from the beginning to the heart-warming end. Fans of Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed count on this Christmas classic as a treasured and integral part of their holiday experience.
This movie is a time honored treasure on Thanksgiving Day; it opens with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and follows the journey to Christmas. It stars Maureen O’Hara as a divorced mom with a young daughter, Natalie Wood, the mysteriously wonderful Kris Kringle, and a supporting cast of helpful co-workers and friends.
This is the heart-warming story of an innkeeper (once an Army General) who needs snow and a show so he can earn enough money. Woven into this lavish mountain setting is Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, singing, dancing, and romancing.
4. Home Alone
This has become a modern classic for the entire family. Children will be captivated with the amazing adventures of a little boy who is accidentally forgotten at home when his parents travel to France for the Christmas holidays. You’ll find yourself rooting for Kevin, the little boy, and spellbound by his ingenuity and bravery. You’ll also laugh out loud at his clever tactics to protect his family’s home.
This is the original classic that later inspired You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It also has the feel of the movie Love Actually. If you loved those charming classics, this movie will fit the bill for a romantic holiday movie.
6. Holiday Inn
Another must see Christmas movie filled with incomparable songs by Bing Crosby and dance moves by Fred Astaire. The great sets, gorgeous costumes, and wonderful performances make this a hit.
7. Die Hard
On Christmas Eve a New York cop works tirelessly to free hostages, including his wife, in an LA office building. As a bonus, even if you are annoyed by your relatives, watching Jack McClane walk on shards of glass will make your life seem easy.
This is an exquisite movie aimed at wrapping the entire family into an extraordinary holiday plot and amazing us with artistic magic. The family will love being taken along on an enchanting holiday excursion.
9. Elf
Will Farrell stars as a real Christmas elf in this modern movie destined for classic Christmas status. There is a magical mixture of moving emotional scenes, interlaced with several comical moments in the Elf’s adventure.
10. The Preacher’s Wife
Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington star in this charming Christmas movie and pull us right into the plot about a minister’s wife’s life, and an angel who reignites her purpose.
One of the biggest holiday highlights is to do something special for someone else. There are some great opportunities for us to help and give back to our communities this holiday season. You could choose your favorite way in which to give, or read along and try a new way to delight someone in need this year.
1. Volunteer at a homeless shelter, hospital, or retirement facility.
Give the gift of your time, brighten someone’s day, and help out in whatever capacity you can.
2. Give a toy through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree or the Marine’s Toys for Tots.
A child will love receiving a toy you pick out and donate through the Toys for Tots program. There are drop off locations in retailers and even schools. If you want to pick out a gift for a specific child, you can visit your local retailer and see if they have a giving tree. Alternatively, you can shop online through The Salvation Army’s Angel Giving Tree presented by JCPenney. You can also take new unwrapped toys to hospitals and firehouses where they will be given to children who will love them.
It’s amazing the kind of information we put on our computers. Sometimes our entire lives seem like they are on our hard drives. This is private information that we don’t want everyone else to see.
So what do you do when your computer dies and you have to replace it? You can store the old one in a closet, hoping that no one ever finds it. The better option is to erase all of your private information and donate the computer to charity.
Format Your Hard Drive
It is not enough to hit the delete button on your computer. While you may remove some information from view, everything is still hidden somewhere on your hard drive. Anyone who can sort through the directories will be able to find it. You will want a more secure method to clean your computer drive.
Reformatting your hard drive is not a hundred percent secure, but it will protect much of your information. This process doesn’t erase your information, but it does erase the address tables or the links to the information. An average person would not be able to retrieve your data. However, a computer specialist would be able to gain access.
Leonardo da Vinci is credited with coming up with the concept of contact lenses in 1508. Now, there are bifocal contact lenses, lenses people can sleep in, lenses in fancy materials like silicone-hydrogel, and ones that can help fix astigmatism. Soon, there will even be an even newer form of contact lenses in the future. A new study is underway that would allow users to basically have a computer screen on their eyeball. The study is being conducted by researchers from the University of Washington and Aalto University in Finland. It was published in the November issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.
The lenses contain an antenna which uses power from an outside source to show information on the contact lens. On just one tiny contact lens, there is also a silicon power-harvesting and radio-integrated circuit, metal interconnects, insulation layers, and a transparent sapphire chip which has a custom designed micro-LED. Right now, the lens just looks like it has one little pixel of light on it, but in the future, scientists are hoping that the lenses could display more information and have more applications for humans.
So far, the contact lenses have just been tested on rabbits, but there have not been any problems, so testing on humans could come next. However, there are some things that would have to be worked out before it can be used. The power source which the antenna picks up would have to be 2cm away from the eye. The curved contact lenses that people have come to know would also need to be modified to work. They would need to become thinner and flatter than what is used now for regular contact lenses.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that anyone who had their property foreclosed between 2009 and 2010 will be able to request an independent review of their foreclosure. This could affect 4.5 million mortgage borrowers whose properties were foreclosed during this time. If it is found that the homeowner received “financial injury” because of an error or other deficiencies, they may receive monetary compensation. The exact amount has not been determined yet, but this is a beacon of hope for people who feel that their mortgage was mishandled.
The announcement is in light of the “robo-signing” scandal that rocked the mortgage industry. When foreclosures became a normal part of the mortgage business, mortgage industry employees started relying on this practice to get through all the paperwork. It included lower level employees signing their own name with a fancy title, another person signing for an executive, an attorney hired to manage the process that may not have had the proper oversight, requirements being ignored, or the absence of notary policies. In all of these cases the mortgage documents are considered tainted because proper procedures were not taken to look over the documents. A signature is a sign that something is accurate. However, if someone qualified did not review the document, it could mean that something is inaccurate. That could cause a big problem for families. With so many different signatures it will be difficult to know who really handled a foreclosure case. For instance, “Linda Green” signed 1,300 documents, using 22 different signatures in Essex County, Massachusetts.
You could spend $18,000, or trek to the Amazon, to spend a night in one of the world’s craziest hotels. Or, you can use these design ideas to create a similar look right in your own home.
Mardan Palace Hotel in Turkey
At $18,000 a night per person, and a cost of $1.4 billion to build, it is labeled Europe’s ‘Most expensive hotel’. The spa has a room with real snow, and the pool is so huge, it takes half an hour to cross it in a gondola. This hotel shouts luxury from its very expensive rooftops. Create a luxurious look for your own home by including anything that says “luxury” to you—a chaise lounge chair with a velvet throw, a chandelier, or an expensive collection of art. Include anything that makes you happy, and gives you the feel of treating yourself.
Jumbo Stay Hotel in Sweden
You may have slept in a plane before, but probably not on an actual mattress. At this hotel you can even sleep in the cockpit. The aviator in you will love to come home to a décor that incorporates elements of aviation. Look for airplane instruments that have been repurposed, a map that has been framed, or small airplanes that can be used as decorations.
The most recent data from the S&P and Case-Shiller index shows that home prices rose for the fifth consecutive month. This index looked at twenty major cities and found that home prices rose 0.2% in August. However, prices are still lower on a year-over-year basis by 3.8%. David Blitzer, a spokesman for S&P, said, “Even though the [year-over-year] rates are improving, national home prices are still below where they were a year ago.” For people who are looking to sell their home, a rise in home prices could be good news; not so, however, for those looking to buy a new home. This could be good for the overall economy, but it is still unclear what home prices will do in the following months.
Certain areas are doing better than others. Ten off the twenty metro areas that were covered by the Case-Shiller index saw a rise in home prices. Home prices rose 1.6% in Washington, D.C., and 1.4% in Detroit and Chicago. However, other areas saw a fall in home prices; 2.4% in Atlanta, 0.4% in Los Angeles, 0.3% in Las Vegas, 0.2% in San Diego, and 0.1% in San Francisco and Phoenix.
As long as the overall economy stays weak, home prices will continue to hover around their current levels. When the economy is weak, there are more foreclosures. Lending standards are also strict right now, and unless they ease up, there may not be a big change in the price of homes.
The changes that were made to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) by the Obama administration are unlikely to have an effect on home prices. The main focus of the changes that were made to HARP was to help people stay in their present homes instead of buying new ones. These changes allow borrowers to refinance at a lower rate, which has the potential to lower monthly house payments. While this may provide a boost to the economy, it is unlikely to help those people who are looking to buy a new home. It may help prevent defaults and foreclosures, which means there are fewer distressed homes on the market pulling down the value of those and other homes in the area.
2338 N Loop 1604 W #120
San Antonio, TX 78248
Mario Hesles
Mobile: (210) 639-4807
Email: mariohesles@gmail.com
Website: www.MySATXHome.com
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that anyone who had their property foreclosed between 2009 and 2010 will be able to request an independent review of their foreclosure. This could affect 4.5 million mortgage borrowers whose properties were foreclosed during this time. If it is found that the homeowner received “financial injury” because of an error or other deficiencies, they may receive monetary compensation. The exact amount has not been determined yet, but this is a beacon of hope for people who feel that their mortgage was mishandled.
The announcement is in light of the “robo-signing” scandal that rocked the mortgage industry. When foreclosures became a normal part of the mortgage business, mortgage industry employees started relying on this practice to get through all the paperwork. It included lower level employees signing their own name with a fancy title, another person signing for an executive, an attorney hired to manage the process that may not have had the proper oversight, requirements being ignored, or the absence of notary policies. In all of these cases the mortgage documents are considered tainted because proper procedures were not taken to look over the documents. A signature is a sign that something is accurate. However, if someone qualified did not review the document, it could mean that something is inaccurate. That could cause a big problem for families. With so many different signatures it will be difficult to know who really handled a foreclosure case. For instance, “Linda Green” signed 1,300 documents, using 22 different signatures in Essex County, Massachusetts.
