MLS# 212012374 at 431 La Peninsula Blvd, #431 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision 400 La Peninsula went pending on Monday 23rd of April 2012 when the list price was $329,900. The property was originally listed on Tuesday 10th of April 2012. This is a Mid Rise building condo 2 Bed, 2 full bath, 1 half bath having 1,440 square feet under A/C. This Mid Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 1995 and has no pool. The view is the gulf, river and the back of the property faces southwest. Listing Brokerage Century 21 First Southern Trust.

MLS# 212006047 at 700 La Peninsula Blvd, #ph3 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Twin Dolphins went pending on Thursday 10th of May 2012 when the list price was $1,250,000. The property was originally listed on Wednesday 15th of February 2012. This is a High Rise building condo 3+Den, 4 full bath, 1 half bath having 4,713 square feet under A/C and 2 garage spaces. This High Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 2002 and has no pool. The view is the city, gulf and bay and the back of the property faces northwest. Listing Brokerage Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.

MLS# 212012338 at 330 Kon Tiki Dr in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Tarpon Village Apts went pending on Thursday 26th of April 2012 when the list price was $325,000. The property was originally listed on Sunday 3rd of October 2010. This is a Low Rise building condo 2+Den, 2 full bath, 1 half bath having 1,870 square feet under A/C. This Low Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 1976 and has no pool. The view is the bay, landscaped area, water and the back of the property faces west. Listing Brokerage Keller Williams Realty – Marco.

MLS# 211501575 at 134 Tahiti Cir in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Isles Of Capri went pending on Sunday 29th of April 2012 when the list price was $589,000. The property was originally listed on Tuesday 8th of September 2009. This is a Single Family 2 Bed, 2 full bath, 1 half bath having 1,328 square feet under A/C and 1 garage spaces. The property has 0.23 acres. This Single Family in Isles Of Capri was built in 1960 and has a pool. The view is the bay and the back of the property faces south. Listing Brokerage Christopher Realty Inc.

Isles Of Capri Closed Sales

MLS# 212002470 at 172 Pago Pago Dr W in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Isles Of Capri sold on Friday 6th of April 2012 when listed for $993,500. The selling price was $927,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $229. This is a Single Family 4 Bed, 4 full bath having 4,037 square feet under A/C and 2 garage spaces. The property has 0.18 acres. This Single Family in Isles Of Capri was built in 1999 and has a pool. The view is the gulf and bay and the back of the property faces southeast. Listing Brokerage Century 21 First Southern Trust.

MLS# 211521732 at 60 Pelican St W, #201 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Marco Towers sold on Monday 2nd of April 2012 when listed for $144,000. The selling price was $135,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $143. This is a High Rise building condo 1 Bed, 1 full bath having 941 square feet under A/C. This High Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 1971 and has no pool. The view is the landscaped area, parking lot and the back of the property faces northwest. Listing Brokerage Premiere Plus Realty Co.

MLS# 211502327 at 408 Panay Ave in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Isles Of Capri sold on Wednesday 29th of February 2012 when listed for $320,000. The selling price was $335,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $148. This is a Single Family 4 Bed, 3 full bath having 2,256 square feet under A/C and 2 garage spaces. The property has 0.2 acres. This Single Family in Isles Of Capri was built in 1983 and has a pool. The view is the canal and the back of the property faces west. Listing Brokerage Clyde C. Quinby Realty, Inc.

MLS# 211013913 at 29 Pelican East in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Isles Of Capri sold on Tuesday 1st of May 2012 when listed for $1,090,000. The selling price was $975,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $305. This is a Single Family 3+Den, 2 full bath, 1 half bath having 3,188 square feet under A/C and 2 garage spaces. The property has 0.32 acres. This Single Family in Isles Of Capri was built in 2006 and has no pool. The view is the bay, preserve and the back of the property faces northeast. Listing Brokerage Keating Associates.

MLS# 211008456 at 700 La Peninsula Blvd, #305 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Twin Dolphins sold on Friday 23rd of March 2012 when listed for $599,900. The selling price was $610,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $236. This is a Mid Rise building condo 2+Den, 3 full bath, 1 half bath having 2,579 square feet under A/C. This Mid Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 2002 and has no pool. The view is the partial gulf, river and the back of the property faces northwest. Listing Brokerage John R. Wood REALTORS.

MLS# 210042464 at 60 Pelican St W, #602 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Marco Towers sold on Monday 30th of April 2012 when listed for $190,000. The selling price was $155,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $164. This is a High Rise building condo 1 Bed, 1 full bath having 941 square feet under A/C and 1 garage spaces. This High Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 1971 and has a pool. The view is the bay, partial gulf, river, gulf and bay and the back of the property faces northwest. Listing Brokerage Keller Williams Realty – Marco.

MLS# 207000614 at 60 Pelican St W, #205 in Isles Of Capri, subdivision Marco Towers sold on Tuesday 17th of April 2012 when listed for $249,900. The selling price was $214,000 and the $/SqFt sold was $227. This is a Mid Rise building condo 1 Bed, 1 full bath having 941 square feet under A/C. This Mid Rise building condo in Isles Of Capri was built in 1971 and has no pool. The view is the river, water, gulf and bay, intersecting canal and the back of the property faces south. Listing Brokerage RE/MAX Results Realty.

The source of this real property information is the copyrighted and proprietary database compilation of the M.L.S. of Naples, Inc. Copyright 2012 M.L.S. of Naples, Inc. All rights reserved. The accuracy of this information is not warranted or guaranteed. This information should be independently verified if any person intends to engage in a transaction in reliance upon it.

I am writing about the proposed change in the Tourist Development Ordinance that is listed on the Board of Collier County agenda for to be voted on on May 8. It calls for board members to have more “experience” in tourism, rather than the current requirement of an “interest” in tourism:

Item 11B under the County Manager’s report:

Recommendation to approve an amendment to the Tourist Development Council (Advisory Board) Ordinance No. 92-18, as amended, to more specifically conform to the statutory language in Section 125.0104(4)(e), Fla. Stat., to include the TDC recommendation to make the language more stringent with “experience”, and to authorize Staff to advertise the Ordinance and return to Board for adoption. (Jack Wert, Tourism Director).

Is there a great need to make the wording on this ordinance more restrictive? The Florida statute gives county’s broad power in creating the tourist development ordinances for good reason. In one of Florida’s largest county’s you should be looking for wide-ranging experience on any board that has a say in how to spend money that will promote something as important as tourism.

Tourism is much more than hotels, and I question the wisdom of painting yourself into a box dominated by the same people with self-serving interests who do nothing more than chant the advertising-only mantra. These funds should be used to promote tourism in Collier County, not as an advertising supplement to help the bottom line of private businesses. By requiring more tourism experience as a prerequisite to board membership, you will turn the board into a lobby group for hotels. If are reviewing the ordinance, someone might like to note that there is no place in the ordinance that says that the hotel with the highest room rates should have a permanent seat on the board.

Has the experience of all of the county and city government officials or others on this board been somehow deficient over the years to necessitate this need to change the ordinance?

Instead of more stringent wording, please keep your horizons open so that you will have more flexibility in looking to other areas of the county for representation.

Everglades City, for instance, does a fantastic job of promoting itself as an ecotourism destination. People fly in to kayak or go on fishing trips in the back waters and stay in that city’s hotels or other rentals. They want to see the Everglades and ride bikes in Shark Valley.  Why don’t you consider an Everglades City hotelier?

As other parts of the county grow, you will need to promote tourism in areas such as Immokalee where the Seminole Casino is a big draw, or Ave Maria, where students and their parents come for sporting events, and real estate is sold.

Why would you want to narrow the focus of an ordinance that is supposed to be considering how funds can be used to draw the greatest number of repeat visitors? Entrepreneurs at local museums, bike shops, restaurants, and real estate firms, for example, all have experience in running businesses that cater to tourists. Would their experience fall inside of the “more stringent” wording being proposed here?

It is the job of people on the board to interpret the ordinance in order to promote tourism. I’m not sure that “tourism experience” is the best qualifier for interpretation of  this ordinance. The ordinance, for example, specifically states that the funding of beach facilities is definitely a permitted expenditure. The only TDC board members who vehemently opposed the funding of the beach facility that will be built in north Naples, were the ones who supposedly have the greatest tourism experience, the hoteliers. Meanwhile, beaches all over Florida and all over Collier County have beach facilities that draw crowds. This amenity will be good for tourism, and therefore good for our local economy, and the ones who would supposedly have the greatest tourism experience, voted against it.

The ordinance that is being discussed was reviewed and approved by voters in a referendum. If there is such a great need to change this ordinance, don’t you need to bring it back to the voters?

Thank you.

Mary Lou Smart

Add three complementary cups of iced water and some condiments and you have a meal for three.

Where else in Naples can you find such a great deal, with a view of the Gulf, outside cabana seating and instant service with a smile?

All this could be available in the very near future to the general Naples area population, as well as our tourists from all over America and the globe, should a small group of nay-sayers step aside and realize the value of such a facility.

The neighbor to the south of the Vanderbilt Beach Facility is the Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples and their Managing Director, Edward V. Staros, has not been a supporter of a restaurant type facility at the public park, or even a deck with a concession,  saying that these “are not components of promoting tourism”. This said, the Ritz-Carlton has several concessions and decks and restaurants at much higher prices to the public and tourists. Why would the Ritz-Carlton consider a small county run facility offer any kind of competition to their high end, top dollar ‘clientele’? It seems somewhat laughable and embarrassing that Edward V. Staros would not be more neighborly and supportive of such a facility that in truth, is for the greater good of the community. The Ritz-Carlton should work hard to attempt to regain their 5 star rating after recently having dropped one star.

When I successfully promoted the Vanderbilt Parking Facility and got it built, we had the same negativity alliance trying to stop improvements to the Vanderbilt Beach area. Who where they? The same small groups of people in the immediate area of the proposed facility who had no interest in the improved 3 layer garage and did not support its construction at all. But they love it now!

Nothing has changed now that the proposed Vanderbilt Beach Facility is in the planning stages. Accusations have been flung by the opposition that the use of TDC funds (Tourist Developments funds) are not appropriate in this project. But wait! Dumping tons of sand on beaches is? Or maybe the Turtle Monitoring Program is? How is monitoring turtles a benefit to the tourist? How is dumping millions of dollars of sand onto a beach a benefit, if for most part the beach has no access for the public? Its not right you would say and I would agree. But in the case of the beach facility, a destination to be enjoyed by millions all year round, I see no better use of TDC funds.

The nay-sayers living in the area of the beach have the luxury of choice. To be a good neighbor to the rest of the world or to be difficult and object to every change that is in fact, for the greater good of the community. The good thing about it is that after the Vanderbilt Beach Facility is completed and built, you can ask them; “How did you enjoy the Chicken Tenders and Fries”?

Vanderbilt Beach Facility is an attractive and sensible facility designed using the Clam Pass facility as a model. The county should be commended for looking out for tourism and for Collier County residents, as many of us are in search of a reasonably-priced, safe day at the beach.

My kids love Chicken Tenders and Fries and for $7, with a view of the Gulf of Mexico, a cool deck to sit on and a beautiful Florida sunset. This is paradise! Who could ask for more?

Call (800) 267-0451 and mention:

“Getting to Know Naples Special”

To receive discounted rates on all suites.

Accommodations with full kitchens, hot breakfast buffet,

Free wireless Internet, no extra charges beyond room and tax.

Rate Coupon Code: LBAE

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Naples
3557 Pine Ridge Road, Naples, FL
(800) 267-0451
26.2128295898438; -81.7465667724609

Manchester Square, by well known builder WCI Communities, is a 37-acre gated community with 117 homes and attached villas in North Naples Florida.

Manchester Square is situated between Pine Ridge Rd and Vanderbilt Beach Road off Livingston Road and close to Naples area shops and beaches.

Manchester Square homes are single-family homes with 3 to 5 bedroom plans, offering 1 and 2 story single-family home plans and attached villa home designs with living area ranging between 1860 to 3300 sqft.

Manchester Square villas have 2 bedrooms and a den with 2 baths with about 1550 sqft living area.

The Manchester Square clubhouse has 2530 sqft under air, a gathering room, catering kitchen for parties, fitness center, resort style pool, kids play area and basket ball court.

Manchester Square Video

Web Cam Directory - Naples Web Cameras, Live Feed beach Cameras in Florida and surrounding areas.

Naples Tamiami Trail Live Webcam

Naples Vanderbilt Beach – Beach Cam

Naples Backwater – Boat Dock Live

Naples Beach Hotel – Beach View

Naples Beach Hotel – Golf Course Cam

Naples Bay – Boaters Live Webcam

Marco Island – Marriott Hotel

Marco Island – Inland rooftop Weather Camera

Fort Myers Beach – Beach Live

Fort Myers Beach – EarthCam

Fort Myers Beach – Best Western Camera

Sanibel – Holiday Inn Beach Camera

Downtown Miami Live Camera

Florida Keys – 7 Mile Marina

Destin Florida – Inn at Crystal Beach Camera

These web cams are very useful for checking surf conditions or extreme weather conditions in the case of hurricanes

The directory of Naples Web Cameras and South West Florida is independent of Naples-Fl-Real-Estate.Com and these websites may go down or show outdated information.

Grande Dominica at The Dunes is a high-rise building built in 2003 located in North Naples within one mile of the Gulf of Mexico and the very popular public beach park, Delnor Wiggins Pass State park.

Grande Dominica at The Dunes amenities are: Vehicle Wash Area, Trash Chute, Tennis Court, Fitness Center, Extra Storage, Dining Services, Concierge Services, Community Room, Community Pool, Bikers and  Jogging Path, Beach Club, Beach Access, BBQ and Picnic areas.

Condos that have a westerly exposure have expansive views of the mangrove area and waterways surrounding The Dunes community. Grande Dominica The Dunes floor plans are large, typically 3 bedroom condos with about 2700 square foot living area. There are 17 floors and units have 2 parking areas. Grande Dominica is a pet friendly condo building and no pet approval is required.

Call for Grande Dominica condos at The Dunes which may include bank owned foreclosures and short sales.

Bay Forest Naples Walk 2 Bed, 2 Bath, 1388 SqFt condo in North Naples for $169,000.

Feel young again! Feels spacious and free, above the mature canopy of trees, will make you reminisce the days when you built your first tree house!

Bay Forest is peaceful, tranquil, Zen-like, paradise, are the words to describe this 4th floor Naples Walk condo residence.

Whether it’s morning tea, brunch, or having cocktails while watching the sunset, you will be spending most of your time on your screened lanai enjoying the views! With chirping birds and nearby Osprey calling their young along Hickory Bay, this is one of Naples’ hidden jewels in real estate.

Bay Forest Naples Walk amenities include a clubhouse, heated swimming pool, HarTru tennis courts, Bocce, Shuffleboard, a Golf practice net, and a boardwalk that meanders in and around the forest of trees and mangroves and takes you to a chickee hut where you can sit, relax, enjoy the sunset, and catch your first snook or tarpon!

There’s something for every age at Bay Forest. It feels like vacation, everyday.

The owner of this Naples Walk condo has recently installed electric hurricane shutters, a $16,000 value, on all front and rear windows and doors! A perfect way to protect your residence, or enjoy privacy through filtered sunlight, at the snap of a button.

This fabulous North Naples resort lifestyle of sugar white sandy beaches (a 3.5 mile drive) and shops and restaurants that so many crave for, like Capital Grille, Blue Martini, Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse, Coconut Point shops, Apple Store, Venetian Village or 5th Avenue galleries, can be yours today, at a discounted price. Bay Forest Naples Walk is a secure, gated community.

Bay Forest Public Schools

Elementary School Naples Park Elementary School
Middle School North Naples Middle School
High School Gulf Coast High School

Call us for a showing today!

Dennis Goodman is a professional Naples Florida Photographer that specializes in wildlife, nature, portraits and sports photography.

I first met Dennis at an art show in North Naples a few months ago in 2012 and was immediately taken by his incredible talent to capture specifically nature, in both color and black and white. What is also remarkable is his technique in enlarging and placing onto canvas massive artworks which requires top class photographic equipment and technical knowledge in the process.

Dennis offered a few choice photographs to show you on my website and I am thrilled at the opportunity to showcase his awesome work!

The fun shops at Venetian Village are just a short distance away, so walking or riding your bicycle along the paths should not be an issue.

Many of the Gulf Shore Blvd condos have direct beach access and are located directly on our sandy white shores of Naples.

Those residents on Gulf Shore Blvd that are on the east side of the boulevard and on the bay side, may have to walk a short distance to get to a public beach access point, depending where you are located along Gulf Shore Blvd.

In this blog I am covering condos listed for sale in the following Gulf Shore Blvd condominiums

Gulf Shore Blvd Public Schools

• Sea Gate Elementary School
• Gulfview Middle School
• Naples High School

Bucks Run will have 60 single family homes on completion and is presently in the pre-construction phase. Bucks Run development is located on the corner of Collier Blvd and Vanderbilt Beach Rd offering direct access to the beaches of Naples.

Bucks Run
7743 Bucks Run Dr
Naples, FL 34119

There are 5 floor plans to choose from ranging in present day pricing from the low $200′s for the Pembroke model, which has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and 1804 sqft under air, and the largest floor plan, the Newport floor plan which has 5 bedrooms and  4.5 bathrooms with 3552 sqft under air. The Newport home presently sells in the low $300′s.

All Bucks Run floor plans have a 2 car garage. Two of the smallest plans are single story homes, while the three largest floor plans are two story homes.

Call (239) 404-4221 for information if you would like to purchase a Bucks Run pre-construction home in North Naples.

Bonita Lakes

Bonita Lakes in Bonita Springs Florida, is a new development by the national builder Toll Brothers.

Located just off I-75, Bonita Lakes offers easy access to Fort Myers International Airport, shops at Coconut Point, the Miromar mall, Gulf Coast University and our prestine beach along the Gulf Coast.

Bonita Lakes will have 272 homes, including estate homes and attached villas ranging in the $300,000 price range. The sales center on-site at Bonita Lakes opened Mid February 2012.

Bonita Lakes amenities

Amenities at Bonita Lakes include a fitness center, community club house and pool as well as tennis courts.

Floor Plans

There is a total of six floor plans in Bonita lakes. Toll Brothers developers offers the buyer customization of their home and has endless upgrades to choose from.

The Biella is the smallest of several homes and is a single story 2 bed, 2 bath,  2 car single family home with 2058 sqft.

The Saviero is a two story 4 bed, 3 bath with 2 garage single family home and is the largest in the collection with 2946 sqft.

If you are interested in pre-construction pricing and purchasing a home at Bonita Lakes, Bonita Springs Florida, please call us at (239) 404-4221.

Riverstone Naples by GLHomes is a new gated community in North Naples.

I visited the sales center in mid February and there the builder had sold 48 Riverstone pre-construction homes out of a possible 850 in two and a half weeks.

There are not many pre-construction communities being built in Naples presently, so its always interesting to see how business is going with the relatively new Naples Florida Riverstone developer GL Homes.

Riverstone Naples is a 640 acre development off Immokaee Road in North Naples and a neighbor to the prestigious Olde Cypress Golf Club community. About 300 acres of Riverstone Naples has been set aside for preservation purposes including lakes and natural Florida vegetation. The builder is prsently focused on single family homes but may in the future build several carriage homes on remaining undeveloped lot sites.

Riverstone Recreation

The central focus of Riverstone Naples is the substantial clubhouse which comes equipped with an indoor sports complex, fitness center, lounge, arts and crafts room, yoga room, even a kiln room, social hall, kids room, catering kitchen and billiards room.

Riverstone Floorplans

There are several single family home floor plans to choose from. The Riverstone’s smallest homes is 2081 sqft under air conditioning,  which has 2 beds, den (with an optional 3rd bedroom) and 2 baths and 2 car garage. The largest Riverstone home is a 5 bedroom, 5 and half bath and has 4742 sqft living area. This unit has a 3 car garage, super game room and is 2 stories.

About GL Homes

GL Homes is a Florida builder and has developed in several east coast locations such as Vero Beach, Royal Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Davie. GL Homes has fewer communities on the Florida west coast, but they include Tampa, Fort Myers and now Naples.

The Naples communities by GL Homes are Saturnia lakes, Marbella Lakes and now Riverstone.

GL Homes is proud to have about 60,000 people living in their homes in Florida. Many of their past loyal customers have purchased several new homes from the builder.

Please call 239-404-4221 if you have an interest in looking at buying at Riverstone Naples.

“What the hell is this?”

That is the unprofessional response I received from WP Realty support after kindly asking for a software refund.

I got to know Chad Broussard in July 2011 when I was looking for a customizable plugin for my WordPress websites. I had stumbled across WP Realty on one of the many blogs discussing IDX plugins. I didn’t know of his company, a Division of Pro Marketing Group, Chad Broussard or his lovely wife Lisa Broussard, a real estate agent from MyrtleBeach SC, but I was prepared to give the product a try.

Big mistake for me, even though I had read of bad blood between Chad Broussard and Open-Realty and a close friend of mine who had cautioned me about using him after he suffered a bad experience in the past.

After several weeks and conversations with Chad Broussard about his long expected release of his new version 3 of his WP Realty WordPress plugin, which was supposed to sever the umbilical cord WP Realty attached between Open-Realty (commercial web based real estate listing management application) and his earlier WP Realty versions, I was convinced to buy his prior version-2.

But wait. Why buy a prior version when the new version was expected to be released in a few months?

“This copy isn’t the most recent but it is the second most recent and will work just fine for getting in your mls listings into the db.” Chad.

Chad Broussard, being the salesman he is, convinced me to buy the older version so that I could get my programmer to link up the database, which was supposed to be identical in both version, or so I was told.

After some time working on the WP Realty database, my programmer cautioned me about its poor performance.  With just a couple thousand listings for testing, it was slow loading, but I had planned tens of thousands more.

Again, the salesman Chad Broussard reassured me the bugs would be fixed and we continued programming up until the long awaited release date for the version 3 of WP Realty, which was supposed to be January 1, 2012.

The day came, the day went, and even though I had a pre-release of WP Realty version3, it was so buggy, almost nothing could be programmed to work. I never received a ‘good’ copy, the release I was waiting for of his program. The situation seamed hopeless and after spending hours with my programmer and being promised a release date for the working copy, which came and went, I felt I had little option but to cut my losses and throw away many hours of wasted time working on this WP Realty program.

That is when I asked for a refund.

Trader Joe’s Naples Florida is a huge success.

With the grand opening of the newest Trader Joe’s store at

The Trader Joes Naples store was greeted on its opening day, Friday 10 February 2012, by fearless, eager shoppers by the hundreds.

What was the old Borders bookstore in the north Naples shopping center is now home to the newest Trader Joes.

The California based grocery store has stores in about 31 states totaling 361 Trader Joe stores. Many of their stores have around 13,000 sqft and the Naples store with 14,000 sqft will be a perfect match.

A little history about Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s was originally called Pronto Markets in 1958 and water later renamed Trader Joe’s in 1967. At the same time the look and dress code for employees change as well to the familiar Hawaiian attire. The idea is that shopping at the store be fun and not a chore.

The business model

Trader Joe’s does not support the coupon or items on sale business model and prides itself on an all time low price all day, every day approach. There is no online purchasing as the chain has adopted the old fashioned approach to face time with their customers. The bell system is a way of communicating between employees.

There is of yet no Trader Joe’s franchise and its a privately held company.

The Wikipedia Protest

Jan 18, 2012 Wikipedia decided to take its millions of customers on a political joyride and shut down it service with an interactive banner encouraging them to take action and “Contact your representative”

The banner states:

“Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge. For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.”

Yes the banner is correct about one thing when it states “we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history”, but has Wikipedia been neutral in its creation of the “largest encyclopedia in human history”?

No Wikipedia has not been neutral.

Wikipedia is control by people. The people controlling Wikipedia, the Wikipedia editors and Wikipedia volunteers, all are human and have human characteristics and are influenced by popular opinion more than fact.

That makes Wikipedia a good source of common, popular opinion, in our time, but not factual or accurate.

I have in the past submitted articles to Wikipedia and in most instances they were edited out by the Wikipedia staff and this was done with malice, not based on fact, or checking the sources.

With this Wikipedia protest today of the piracy bills, I wish Wikipedia would either shut down permanently or become a factually based encyclopedia instead of a childish collection of popular opinion based on a handful of backslapping editors.

Home Security and how to safeguard your prized possessions.

The love of art has blossomed in many ways along the Naples Florida Gulfshore in recent years. Unfortunately, the local cultural awakening has attracted some who love art for other reasons than for art’s sake, namely thieves. In the past burglars stole two French Impressionist paintings valued at about $7.1 million—Monet’s Vetheuil Vu de l’Ile Saint-Martin and Renoir’s Place de la Trinité—from a Naples Florida mansion on Gordon Drive. A few months later, statues and sculptures began disappearing from front yards all over the Naples south side.

Although art thefts had been rare in Naples Florida, million-dollar-plus jewelry thefts have occurred since the 1980s. And as the Florida’s Gulfshore continues to become more developed, sophisticated and wealthy, high-stakes burglaries might be expected to grow. Here are a few tips that can help Naples Florida Homeowners protect treasured works of art and other valuables.

Home owners need to prove provenance should a stolen work be recovered. Anyone with a valuable collection should carefully document it.

Documentation should include color and black-and-white photographs of all sides of each artwork, highlighting unique flaws. Macro-photography, which reveals thread count in canvases, is also useful for proving ownership and authenticity of paintings. Once such records have been made, Keller adds, they should be stored offsite.

Two new types of technology that could further help identify stolen works come from ArtMark, a British company run by former art conservators. The company offers a line of Datatag microchips about the size of a pinhead that a trained technician can attach to frames and stretchers, or to antiques or other valuables. Individually coded, these covert devices cost $22 each and tie into a proprietary database that can help prove ownership if police recover a stolen item. The company also offers a sugar-based DNA identification technology that comes in liquid or powder form and which can be added to paint, ink or varnish—virtually any conservation treatment, according to Andrew Finlay, ArtMark’s president. First used in tanker holds to tag the source of maritime oil spills, the synthetic DNA costs about $800 for coverage of up to a 100-piece collection.

A good alarm system plays the most important part in protecting art and other valuables, police and security experts agree. But many alarm companies will push lesser, cheaper alarm systems just to make the sale. Look for a commercially rated, UL- listed panel from a trusted alarm company. A good system costs between $10,000 and $30,000, though outlays can run much higher.

In alarm systems, bigger is usually better. Smaller detectors, about three inches high and the width of a pencil, rely on just one technology—infrared—while the bigger ones, the size of a switch plate, use microwave and infrared. Dual technology makes the latter not only more reliable but also less susceptible to false alarms commonly triggered by the thunderstorms so prevalent in Naples Florida. Repeated false alarms can lead not only to eventual skepticism on the part of alarm companies and police, but also to fines from counties and cities, he points out.

Make sure to back up alarms with cell phones as professional thieves now commonly cut phone lines before breaking into houses, and many alarms still rely on wire-line phones. Homeowners should also buy batteries capable of running the alarm system for at least 24 hours in case the power goes out—another common byproduct of Florida’s frequent summer storms.

Even the best alarm system won’t stop a crime if someone doesn’t turn it on. And that—the human element—is perhaps the most common problem police run up against. The theft of the Impressionist paintings in Naples Florida, for instance, took place when the couple staying in the house went out to dinner and forgot to turn on the house’s alarm system, according to police.

A worthwhile option for forgetful owners and employees is object-protection sensors. These little wireless transmitters may be hidden behind paintings or other art, and notify a central security station when the work is touched or moved. One worth mentioning is made by Sensicast. Each transmitter costs about $250; front-end installation runs another $2,000 or so. The system won’t work with very thin prints or photographs. But the extra protection and expense are well worth considering.

Although it’s tempting to show off your Naples Florida art collection, security experts and police advise against talking about it too much, especially when it comes to boasting of high values. Don’t tell any more people than necessary about the particular kind of security system you have and avoid handing out keys to employees and tradesmen. If a collection is valuable enough, the owner ought to consider having a private investigator run background checks on potential employees.

When it comes to home security, it is only partly true that high-rises offer greater protection from burglary than houses. A Naples Florida burglar nicknamed the Spiderman scaled about 10 stories on a Naples Gulf-front highrise in the early ’90s, broke in via a balcony window, tied up the condo unit’s two occupants and stole their jewelry. Naples Florida highrises and other condominiums also tend to have many more contractors and maintenance workers floating around.

Today, 29 December 29, 2011 a chilly Naples Florida day, I decided to take the kids to the beach and brave the cold weather while they are still on their Florida vacation.

We parked the car at the Vanderbilt Beach parking lot and headed south on the beach passing the Ritz Carlton beach hotel. I found it strange why a full clothed police officer was sitting on the beach in front of the Ritz Carlton hotel.

That is when I met Corporal Dill of the Golden Gate Police Station.
He was seated on the beach, on the sand, near the northern border of the Ritz Carlton hotel.
He was in full police uniform wearing a gun and tazer, ready by all means.

I asked Corporal Dill what his purpose was on the beach and he said that he was there to enforce the property boundaries, as in trespassing laws for the Ritz Carlton, on their behalf.

When asked were he understood the boundaries to be, he correctly described the north and south approximate locations, but said that the most westerly boundary of ‘private beach’, owned by the Ritz Carlton, was the high water mark. Wrong!

I explained the location of the survey chain the DEP from Tallahassee had placed on the boardwalk some years back, to mark the ECL on the beach. He had no idea what I was referring to, but pointed to an unofficial looking sign behind him mentioning a distance and the ECL (Erosion Control Line). Corporal Dill said he was told by the Ritz Carlton that the high water line was the end of their ‘private beach’.

Later that afternoon we went back because a TV crew from FOX-4 News was fixing to meet us there for an interview on the beach. It turns out that the your corporal had a very busy day kicking people off the public beach in front of the Ritz Carlton hotel.

One lady I spoke to laughed at Corporal Dill when he demanded that she and her young kids move from her spot in front of the hotel. She said she was intimidated by his presence and moved on down the beach were the corporal had suggested. Who wants to argue with a man, gun and Tazer?

You know you are in the Deep South when.

• You know you are in the Deep South when a conscientious citizen raises concerns that a beach hotel has hired the county sheriff to remove people from ‘their beach’.
• You know you are in the Deep South when that same citizen is blamed by the police for instigating trouble, when their own police have failed to verify the law and is in fact breaking the law and hurting the general public in its actions.
• You know you are in the Deep South when the county continues to issue the same vendor, who uses the area next to the hotel to block lateral access for pedestrians walking along state owned lands on the beach. The county knows about the violations. They know, but they continue to aid and abet in the crimes committed against the public, year after year.

It concerns me greatly that the hotel is hiring police for the public beach and it appears that they have given the police incorrect information, which is to the public’s detriment.
It concerns me greatly that the police did not check the boundaries prior to sending their staff out to enforce them and possibly create an embarrassing situation that could affect tourism and how Naples could be seen as being a tourist unfriendly destination.

During tough economic times, we as a county rely heavily on the promotion of tourism, Naples vacation destination, and the protection of all tourism and tourists is paramount and not specifically preferential and unlawful treatment for one hotel on the Naples Florida beach.

If you are kicked off a portion of the beach in Naples Florida, as many today were, just move as requested and call the local TV crew or make a sign and walk up and down the beach proclaiming that it is public. That should get the message across that this bullying is not tolerated and needs to stop.

The corporal took off like a lighting bolt when he saw the TV crew. My guess is he didn’t want the publicity for doing a ‘good deed’.

• Beachfront Ritz-Carlton hotel loses a star
• Beach-goers on Vanderbilt Beach feel as though the Ritz-Carlton is pushing them out of a beach they consider public
• Mr Beach’s Opinion – The Ritz Carlton and Registry Hotels set new standards for excellence and service in Florida resorts.

Author’s note: The Ritz Carlton is located in Collier County and not the City of Naples. The City of Naples has an open beach policy and has never been known to kick tourists off the beach. The majority of Collier County commissioners support an open beach policy, but they have little control over the Collier County Sheriff (Sheriff Rambosk 239-793-9300) other than approving his annual budget. It is entirely possible that the Sheriff may not get his wish next time he comes hat in hand asking for more public money.

Collier County Sheriff’s Office
3319 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL USA
(239) 252-9300
colliersheriff.org

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Naples
280 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples, FL USA
(239) 598-3300
ritzcarlton.com

Google+ Celebrity

Google+ Celebrity List for December 2011.

Google+ Political Celebrities

President Barack Obama

Michelle Obama

Ron Paul

Newt Gingrich

Mitt Romney

Donald Trump (Unverified)

Google+ Actors and Singer Celebrities

Google+ Celebrities

Richard Branson

Joel Osteen Ministries

Paris Hilton

Kim Kardashian

Pete Cashmore – CEO of Mashable.com

Bill Gates

Jillian Michaels – TV’s Health and wellness expert

Matt Cutts – Google

Martha Stuart (Verified)

Dalai Lama (Verified)

Just so you know, some of these Google+ Celebrity Profiles have not been verified by Google. An example of one that is is Richard Branson‘s Google+ Celebrity Profile where you will notice a check mark saying ‘Verified Name’ next to it.

But this IDXPress is not a Diverse Solutions product, just that it works with Diverse Solutions IDXExpress.

The new IDXPress Plus costs $599.00 for a limited time.

Try IDXPress Plus Promo code 50OFFJAN7 and see if that gives you the $50 off.

But is this IDXPress Plus worth its price as a separate plugin or should it be considered an upgrade, one sorely needed since Diverse Solutions initial release of their WordPress pluggin about 2 years ago?

Many of the features they offer with IDXPress Plus have either been added to their original plugin by resourceful customers already. Most Diverse Solutions customers shared their ideas, as I have with Diverse Solutions in the hope that they would listen and improve their product.

An example is the creation of meaningful meta descriptions. I have had these metas on my money website http://www.naples-fl-real-estate.com, and shared this idea with Diverse Solutions a good while back.

What about the new feature for showing ‘related properties’. Nothing new in the sense that it is not a new idea, one that I had asked for, but now have to pay for. Again others have done similar to add to their websites.

The new feature for expired listings to redirect to a meaningful page can easily be added to the existing plugin and redirected anywhere you like.

One feature that does not appear to be present, that would be worth paying for, is the feature to store a users criteria and email them when it comes available. The plugin appears to me to only store the users favorite properties. I see no added value to that at all.

Diverse Solutions detail pages, the ones that show all the property information on one page, have always loaded slowly. On my website they take about 8 to 13 seconds depending. I ran a speed test for a detail page on the website IDXPress Plus is promoting greaterbethesdaonline.com and webpagetest.org took 11 seconds to load, so I see no improvement to the slow load times.

In conclusion, after being loyal to Diverse Solutions for almost 2 years, you would think that they, Diverse Solutions now Zillow, would consider this a free upgrade to us. I mean, it is no big deal, just implementation of our suggestions; ones we all have been harping on for years, being promised updates.

The Ritz-Carlton Naples

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