On Screen – a periodic “launch” of news, commentary, resources, bloggers and other information you can use to get your week started – from Matthew Ferrara & Company.

On Screen: Real Estate Industry news launch for February 9, 2010:

• The Wall Street Journal reports that Fannie and Freddie have already consumed more than $111 billion in taxpayer dollars. And they are likely to need more.
• A real estate bubble in Canada looks like it’s already inflated and expanding. Some markets are experiencing surges of 20% month-over-month, and it shows no signs of stopping.
• NAR Economist Lawrence Yun finally acknowledges that the tax credits are causing housing data to skew wildly every month in the latest release of pending sales figures from the National Association of REALTORS.

On Screen: Expert Advice from Industry Leaders:

• Steve Harney reminds REALTORS that the housing “recovery” is shaky in “Built on Jenga Blocks.”
• Stephen Fells offers ideas on how REALTORS can keep an eye on what the social sphere is saying about their business in “Why Every REALTOR Should Use Google Alerts.”
• Ron Hahn offers thoughts on how branding differentiation works in the real estate industry in “Interesting Branding Insights: Real Estate Companies Pay Attention!”

On Screen: Technology Trends (with Comments)

• Cisco says there will be more than 5 billion personal devices connected to wireless mobile networks. (Important trend considering under 50% of REALTORS reported using a smartphone last year).
• Comscore research shows that more than 178 million US citizens watched more than 33.2 billion videos in December 2009. (Amazing considering so few property listings have videos on them.)
• Nielsen research says that use of social networking online soared more than 82% last year over the year before. (Yet less than 35% of REALTORS had a social networking presence in 2009)

On Screen: Smart Ideas to Sell More

• Entrepreneurs should beware “vanity metrics” when measuring true performance, says the Harvard Business Review.
• Timeless ideas on innovation from Peter Drucker at Human Resources IQ’s website.

On Screen: But Wish it Were Not!

Here’s the MLS photo of the week from “Really Bad MLS Photos” group on Facebook: