Monthly Archives: May 2014

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Flood Zone Information

Getting Your Flood Map

Here are some very basic instructions on how to access your county’s flood maps:

Hillsborough County

  1. Open this link and click “View your property on the current online searchable flood map viewer.”
  2. Enter your address in the boxes, making sure to follow the on-screen directions exactly as the program is complex.
    HC Screencap
    Hillsborough County Website
  3. Once you’ve identified your map segment and opened the map, you’ll see a satellite image of your location. Click on the parcel closest to your home and a list of information about your property will come up. All of your flood data is in there.

Pinellas County

  1. Open this link to be taken to Pinellas County’s Flood Maps Page. When there, click on “Flood Zones – Flood Insurance Rate Maps.”
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

Pasco County

  1. Pasco County’s website directs you to the FEMA Map Service Center.
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

Polk County

  1. Polk County’s website directs you to the FEMA Map Service Center.
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

Manatee County

  1. Manatee County’s website directs you to the FEMA Map Service Center.
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

Hernando County

  1. Hernando County’s website directs you to the FEMA Map Service Center.
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

Highlands County

  1. Highlands County’s website offers no links to mapping services. Therefore, the FEMA Map Service Center will be provided.
  2. Once at the FEMA Map Service Center, enter your address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Be sure that the “Product” dropdown says “Flood Maps.” (Your popup blocker must be off.)
  3. In the new window, the map will zoom directly to your property with a link to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). Click that link.
  4. A window will open with that segment of the map. Click on the magnifying glass to view the map.
  5. The interactive map will pop up, showing you the various classifications the land surrounding your property as well as your property. (Legend included at bottom of post.)

FEMA Map Legend

Taken from Pasco County’s incredibly helpful website:

Zones designated as AE, A, AH or AO Zone. These properties have a 1 percent chance of flooding in any year and a 26 percent chance of flooding over the life of a 30-year mortgage.

VE or V Zones. These properties also have a 1 percent chance of flooding in any year and also face hazards associated with coastal storm waves.

High-risk areas are called Special Flood Hazard Areas, and flood insurance is mandatory for most mortgage holders.

Low or Moderate Flood Risk

Shaded X Zone. These properties are outside the high-risk zones. The risk is reduced but not removed.

X Zone. These properties are in an area of lower risk.

Lower-cost preferred rate flood insurance policies (known as Preferred Risk Policies) are often an option in these areas.

Tech Tips

The Social Media Cheat Sheet

All of the social media outlets are recommended for your business. They’ve become a force that’s not just for sharing your personal life with your friends but for sharing your professional life with your clients.

Facebook on computer screen
This is how our Facebook looks.

Images, too, have become key to interacting on the social web. As our devices have grown more powerful and visually stunning, the use of images has risen too—to the point of being a necessity.

We don’t need to convince you that you need images, we’re sure—the numbers bear that out. Engagement on photo posts is far, far higher than on text posts. The Internet is a visual medium. But how do you use the images in a way that promotes your business and shows that you know your tools?

Part of it is knowing the image size you’ll need. Below we have a list of image sizes (in pixels) that show the optimal size for images to be seen, clicked, and responded to. All dimensions are listed Width X Height. 

The Big List For Social Media Image Sizes

  • Facebook
    • Cover Photo: 851×315
    • Profile Photo: 180×180
    • Link Image: 1200×627
    • Regular Image: 1200×1200
    • Milestone Image: 1200×717
  • Twitter
    • Header Image (new profile): 1500×1500
    • Profile Photo: 400×400
    • Image for Tweets (recommended size): 880×440
  • Google+
    • Profile Photo: 250×250
    • Cover Photo: 2120×1192
    • Shared Photos: 800×600
  • LinkedIn
    • Profile Photo: 200×200
    • Cover Photo: 646×220
  • Instagram
    • Profile Photo: 161×161
    • Image (Desktop Lightbox): 612×612
    • Feed Photo: 510×510
  • Pinterest
    • Profile Photo: 600×600
    • Pins: 600xinfinite (photos can be as long as you like, but width is fixed at 600px)
    • Pinboard Thumbnail: 220×150
  • YouTube
    • Profile Photo: 800×800
    • Channel Art: 2560×1224
    • Video Thumbnail: 1280×720 (720p resolution if using a screenshot from your video)

Using these guidelines can and will help you to promote your business because you’ll quickly improve your social media prowess and make your business look more beautiful and appealing to the average social user.

Feel free to bookmark this guide to the social media recommended image sizes in case you need the numbers again. Happy marketing!

Tech Tips

To Update Or Not To Update

When deciding whether to update or not, users often don’t take major factors into consideration—which could end up costing them a lot of time, money, and their personal data in a worst case scenario, all to dodge the inconvenience of learning a new piece of software. Updating is, in fact, essential to good business practice and good system security.

update needed box

It’s not just older folk that tend to get this wrong, either. While the stereotype of grandma not running her updates on her device because the tools she uses “just work” are justified, you’d be surprised at how far down the chain that goes or just how many holdouts are out there. For instance, you might be surprised to know that as of April 2014, 26.29% of computers are still on Windows XP—a computer system that is officially not receiving any more major updates or security patches. Still more are running Windows 7—almost half of all computers in operation—an older system that is, thankfully, still receiving support. But, why update from something that works? Why change the tool?

The Machine Is More Than Its Design

The furor over Windows 8 (and 8.1) are some of the design choices that it’s made. In response to criticism and market pressure from rival Apple, Windows undertook a massive redesign project that was meant to make it more attractive, more useful, and better adapted to work on touch-based devices like smartphones and tablets. And, when used in that environment, it’s a pretty good system. (Even on a standard desktop, it’s not so bad—we here at Hillsborough Title run the equivalent of Windows 8.1 and we’ve not encountered too many problems.) But, the massively changed interface is confusing people and turning them away from these new systems because they don’t like how it looks.

But, if the computer was only how it looked, then there would be more artists and designers and fewer programmers. The computer is a tool, and the paint is only so important. Would you want to be tasked with selling a home that’s beautiful and luxurious on the exterior, fresh paint, beautiful view, the right location, but had no way to put locks on the doors and windows and had damage from previous burglaries? No—and that’s exactly what older systems represent.

The takeaway: a machine is a tool, and a tool is always more than what it looks like. Don’t let your computer be a beautiful but non-functioning device 

Click The Update Button

So, if you’re serious about security and having the best system that you can, click the update button, both for security updates (like Mac OS X’s 10.9.x updates and Windows’ 8.1 and other security packs) and for major operating system upgrades (like going from Windows 7 to Windows 8; OS X 10.8 to 10.9). If you don’t do these upgrades, you might be left with security holes in the system that allow others to get into your machine, find your personal data (including those things that are private and confidential by nature), and possibly use it for illicit purposes.

If the design is holding you back, be sure to understand: by not clicking the button you assume the risk of those security flaws and holes being used against you. Worst case scenario is data loss and theft, but viruses and malware sneak in through those holes and slow down your computer, as well. Don’t let the paint sway your purchase; the paint can change but the strength of the structure is what you should be concerned with.

The takeaway: Updates are almost always worth it, whether you like the design or not—if you’re concerned about security.

When Shouldn’t I Update?

There are a few instances where updating is not practical—usually if you’re in the IT field and you’re managing a network of computers that must work together. Updates change code and your programs might rely on the old code to work properly (or at all). If your business relies on a tool, be sure that tool is also updated to use the new code or else you might find yourself in a bind regarding your business. If your tools all operate offline and do not require any connection to the internet, you should be safe and won’t need an update (for now, anyway—there are viruses that can communicate through sound these days and infect computers not connected to a network).

Be careful about how you use your computer and make sure to apply all the updates necessary to keep your computer running at top shape and as securely as you possibly can. Maintaining good updates is a great way to defeat bugs and problems like Heartbleed—as the big companies running outdated software quickly found out.

The takeaway: You can ignore updates safely only if you know your computer well enough to not update or if you’re completely disconnected from the internet.