Disqus - Latest Comments for bsharwood

Re: Best Of 2013 – Are you the best?

bsharwood — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 03:50:04 -0000

Jeff,
We don't share that specific information on how the algorithm works in the same way that google doesn't share their algorithm. Suffice it to say that there are many factors and things you'd expect as a homeowner looking at the site that you'd want to see to affirm your confidence in a company are important factors.
PS. Thank for the review on Yelp. Really appreciate it. Love the cross-platform reviewing. :-)

Re: Sponsor Roundup: Week Three

bsharwood — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 19:19:13 -0000

One day HomeStars may even have a sponsor link on the main page too. :-)

Re: Fred Penner replaces Neil Young at Greenbelt Harvest Picnic

bsharwood — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:06:38 -0000

I assume this is a joke piece. I'm hoping it is.

Re: Russia’s straight allies for gay rights

bsharwood — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:58:17 -0000

First paragraph. Context, not contest. But great article. (feel free to delete comment after correction)

Re: Amanda Berry’s hero Charles Ramsey jailed for domestic violence, twice

bsharwood — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:54:07 -0000

Two guys from the same neighbourhood, one black, one white. The black guy has been arrested numerous times for domestic assault, and the white guy has had the police stop by for disturbances but never went inside his house, and he's been holding hostages. Just saying.

Re: TweetDeck updated with tons of new keyboard shortcuts

bsharwood — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:32:41 -0000

I have been trying to use the keyboard nav as I used to in Air version, but if I click on a tweet it simply takes me to the tweet details. I just want to use it to navigate left-right, up-down using arrow keys.

Re: After a Delay, Opening Ceremonies Finally Hit the West Coast

bsharwood — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 01:07:34 -0000

The quote at the end says it all. They don't want twitter to provide context, (which it does anyway) but instead their 'award winning team' will provide the context. Totally blind.

Re: Add Your HomeStars Reviews to your Facebook Fan Page

bsharwood — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 13:02:33 -0000

Yes. That's facebook for you. I helped someone get one going a about 2 weeks ago. If you're around tomorrow later in the day, I can give you a call and try to help you get it working. They haven't made it easier, for sure.

Re: What Social Data Is Worth (And Why You Should Back It Up)

bsharwood — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:55:51 -0000

It totally makes sense that Yelp reviews are worth much more than tweets. A yelp review from years ago can make a difference on choosing a restaurant, whereas tweets tend to float into the past quickly. I think Foursqure comments rather than checkins would be a more interesting metric to divide by, because I tend to look at those before choosing local places to visit.

Re: New Site Features Bring Transparency to Review Approval Process

bsharwood — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:37:36 -0000

Debbie,
Thanks for your very insightful and helpful response in the comments here. Your point is very well taken that you have to read all reviews with a certain view of who might have written them, why they wrote them and, again, who didn't write and why didn't they write. It's a challenge to the entire review industry and in home services, where the jobs and services are very personal to the company, it is hard to write a purely anonymous review. Most company, or most good companies in this industry, know the customers they've done work for and they should know whether they've done a good job or not.
That being said, you can go in and edit your review. It's impressive that the company stepped up to the plate and said they would go and fix the situation. That's impressive and a story worth sharing. I'm sure the company would probably appreciate that. Maybe you should have taken it to management first, but the fact that they were willing to admit a mistake and fix it is great service. (see my tweet earlier today on @homestars).

Re: Celebrating The Best Contractors In Eastern Ontario!

bsharwood — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:00:33 -0000

Thanks for the comment. Letting homeowners know who are the best in the industry based on their reputation is what we try to do. Thanks.

Re: Strokes of Genius: How a painting contractor uses social media

bsharwood — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:43:33 -0000

Daniel,
Thanks for the mention of HomeStars. You guys do a great job integrating your reviews into all your other social media. An example for everyone to follow in the industry.

Re: LinkedIn Is Acquiring Contacts Start-Up Rapportive

bsharwood — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:32:48 -0000

I love Rapportive. It's been incredibly useful personally, as well as a great tool for our site to verify validity of our content. Hopefully LinkedIn just makes it better.

Re: 55% of CIOs don't plan on developing a Mobile App anytime soon

bsharwood — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:29:42 -0000

Totally agree. Or the market might not be ready for one.

Re: New Site Features Bring Transparency to Review Approval Process

bsharwood — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:29:36 -0000

Bluebird. Do you mean respond as a company? or respond and talk to other homeowners on the site?

Re: How to Update Ainovo Novo 7 Basic Tablet to Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)

bsharwood — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:35:13 -0000

I am getting part way through the process and then getting stuck. When I turn the device on after holding the + key on it gets about 1/2 way through what looks like the upgrade cycle and the I get a triangle and the android man. Don't know where to go from there. Only option seems to be to restart. Can anyone help?

Re: Herman Cain apparently isn’t going away

bsharwood — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:57:44 -0000

Looks like they turned the comments off. Curious to know what was being said.

Re: Add Your HomeStars Reviews to your Facebook Fan Page

bsharwood — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:49:36 -0000

You seem to be right. Not showing up for me either. Had the reverse problem with Mustafa who couldn't see his, but I could. This facebook stuff is baffling....Let me know if you figure it out. (and what you did to make it happen)

Re: Add Your HomeStars Reviews to your Facebook Fan Page

bsharwood — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 10:56:44 -0000

Thanks for the pointers! All is very useful. It's all up now?

Re: Add Your HomeStars Reviews to your Facebook Fan Page

bsharwood — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:08:14 -0000

Yes. We've determined that Facebook only allows a domain name one time use. We're trying to figure out a better (easier) way of doing this whole process.
Until then, try using a different namespace. Something like "yourcompanyname-reviews" and that should work.
And, of course, when you get it going, feel free to post the link here.

Re: Canada's Top 100 Startups according to Alexa.com - October 2011 edition

bsharwood — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:55:57 -0000

Alas, I guess HomeStars has lost it's Canadiana status with Techvibes.....

Re: 1 in 3 Android users want an iPhone, while iPhone users boast 89% retention rate

bsharwood — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:37:41 -0000

I have an iTouch and a Nexus S (and sometimes I link them up via wifi) and I'm definitely not at all jealous of the iPhone at all. The keyboard being the primary reason. Both have great apps, but after I made the switch from Blackberry to Android, and put in Swiftkey into my android phone, I realize that I don't have iPhone envy at all. The typing makes the difference. But Apple sure does a great job at marketing....

Re: The Sole Purpose of a Startup Accelerator Should Be Making Money

bsharwood — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:16:30 -0000

Totally agree. There are, however, some accelerators and incubators who are looking to make money from government assistance. I think accelerators, incubators, angel networks goal should be to make money from building and growing the entrepreneurs they help.

Re: Canada is THE Best Place to do a Startup

bsharwood — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:50:55 -0000

There's some great folks building some great things in Toronto. Totally agree with that. And yes, there are some great exits, but they are exits to companies in the Valley. We need some companies in Canada that companies in Canada can exit to. I'd also love to see some valley companies exiting to Canadian purchasers. Then we'll know we're in the right place. But great ground has been made and it's a solid start.

Re: Groupon, Dealfind, whatever you call it, educate yourself before you buy in

bsharwood — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:01:43 -0000

I think your experience is pretty common. It's one of the many reasons why the deal sites may not last that much longer.