The tweet that costs you a job. Oops.
You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/davidkonline – hopefully not costing myself any freelance content work.
(Hat tip: smartsavvy)
March 18, 2009
Photo manipulation as art
From the link:
Erik Johansson, a young talented artist from Sweden, creates remarkable images by digitally modifying photographs that he takes himself. Here’s a selection of his very impressive photo manipulations.
(Hat tip: caseywright)
Saving money in a small business
Some tips from Forbes:
With credit locked up and consumers on the sidelines, small businesses should be sleuthing for any and all ways to shave expenses. Chopping heads only gets you so far–slice into muscle and you may be too hobbled to ride the rebound.
“Many think that the next step is to eliminate head count, but they will almost certainly be late when recovery comes,” says Ken Hagerstrom, chief executive of Carlsbad, Calif.-based consultancy Expense Reduction Analysts.
Staying upbeat during the downturn
Something everyone should aspire to. No need to be a pollyanna, but also no need for dark rooms, cold wet towels and hair shirts.
From the link:
It doesn’t take a US$250 visit to a psychotherapist to confirm what you feel in your gut each morning when you wake up — it’s depressing out there. Market volatility, economic instability, pink slips and the ongoing threat of yet another round of IT layoffs — no wonder you feel like diving back under the covers.
If you’ve been let go, you might worry that you’ll never work again. If you’ve escaped a layoff, “it’s very discouraging when you see colleagues leave because these people were your friends,” says Beverly Lieberman, an IT recruiter and career coach and president of Halbrecht Lieberman Associates Inc.
Employees may feel trapped in a company where “they’re sort of grateful to be still working, but they’re insecure” because virtually no employer is making any guarantees about IT or any other kind of job.
“Everybody is saying you can write off 2009 because there are no indicators it will get any better,” Lieberman sums up. “We’re praying for 2010.”
But that doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of the year as an emotional cellar dweller. It’s not easy, but it is possible for tech pros to nurture themselves and even bolster their professional credentials during these tough times, whether you’re laid off and looking, or left behind and overworked.
Wilkerson on Cheney
I’ve already posted on Andrew Sullivan’s reaction to this great piece by Lawrence Wilkerson on the ridiculousness of Gitmo, and the Bush 43 regime’s “intelligence” tactics.
He also took on Dick Cheney’s recent interview with CNN and pretty much rips it to shreds. Wilkerson is someone in a position to understand the internals of the Bush administration since he was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
From the second link:
Recently, in an attempt to mask some of these failings and to exacerbate and make even more difficult the challenge to the new Obama administration, former Vice President Cheney gave an interview from his home in McLean, Virginia. The interview was almost mystifying in its twisted logic and terrifying in its fear-mongering.
As to twisted logic: “Cheney said at least 61 of the inmates who were released from Guantanamo (sic) during the Bush administration…have gone back into the business of being terrorists.” So, the fact that the Bush administration was so incompetent that it released 61 terrorists, is a valid criticism of the Obama administration? Or was this supposed to be an indication of what percentage of the still-detained men would likely turn to terrorism if released in future? Or was this a revelation that men kept in detention such as those at GITMO–even innocent men–would become terrorists if released because of the harsh treatment meted out to them at GITMO? Seven years in jail as an innocent man might do that for me. Hard to tell.
As for the fear-mongering: “When we get people who are more interested in reading the rights to an Al Qaeda (sic) terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,” Cheney said. Who in the Obama administration has insisted on reading any al-Qa’ida terrorist his rights? More to the point, who in that administration is not interested in protecting the United States–a clear implication of Cheney’s remarks.
But far worse is the unmistakable stoking of the 20 million listeners of Rush Limbaugh, half of whom we could label, judiciously, as half-baked nuts. Such remarks as those of the former vice president’s are like waving a red flag in front of an incensed bull. And Cheney of course knows that.
Cheney went on to say in his McLean interview that “Protecting the country’s security is a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business. These are evil people and we are not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.” I have to agree but the other way around. Cheney and his like are the evil people and we certainly are not going to prevail in the struggle with radical religion if we listen to people such as he.
Sully on Cheney
Sullivan sees both evil and incompetence. Can’t say I disagree.
There’s one semi-plausible/semi-joking theory on Cheney. I first read it in the New Republic a ways back in an article by Michelle Cottle. There’s a condition known as “pump head syndrome” that afflicts people who have undergone surgery where your circulation is taken over by machines and blood is pumped into your body with a different level of force than typical. Some people have very debilitating effects from this process. It’s possible that Cheney — and Bill Clinton for that matter — suffers from pump head, thereby explaining the gross incompetence, the evil and the outright lack of concern for anything beyond his narrow, narrow goals.
From the first link:
The torture of individuals whose guilt or innocence is unknown is the mark of barbarism. The treatment of human beings as sub-human is equally the mark of the forces of anti-civilization. From the beginning in this struggle against evil, Cheney has been, as he proudly declares, on the dark side. And operating from within.
His post was built on this quote from Lawrence Wilkerson:
The fourth unknown is the ad hoc intelligence philosophy that was developed to justify keeping many of these people, called the mosaic philosophy. Simply stated, this philosophy held that it did not matter if a detainee were innocent. Indeed, because he lived in Afghanistan and was captured on or near the battle area, he must know something of importance (this general philosophy, in an even cruder form, prevailed in Iraq as well, helping to produce the nightmare at Abu Ghraib). All that was necessary was to extract everything possible from him and others like him, assemble it all in a computer program, and then look for cross-connections and serendipitous incidentals–in short, to have sufficient information about a village, a region, or a group of individuals, that dots could be connected and terrorists or their plots could be identified.
Thus, as many people as possible had to be kept in detention for as long as possible to allow this philosophy of intelligence gathering to work. The detainees’ innocence was inconsequential. After all, they were ignorant peasants for the most part and mostly Muslim to boot.
Here’s more from the Wilkerson link:
Another unknown, a part of the fabric of the foregoing four, was the sheer incompetence involved in cataloging and maintaining the pertinent factors surrounding the detainees that might be relevant in any eventual legal proceedings, whether in an established court system or even in a kangaroo court that pretended to at least a few of the essentials, such as evidence.
Simply stated, even for those two dozen or so of the detainees who might well be hardcore terrorists, there was virtually no chain of custody, no disciplined handling of evidence, and no attention to the details that almost any court system would demand. Falling back on “sources and methods” and “intelligence secrets” became the Bush administration’s modus operandi to camouflage this grievous failing.
But their ultimate cover was that the struggle in which they were involved was war and in war those detained could be kept for the duration. And this war, by their own pronouncements, had no end. For political purposes, they knew it certainly had no end within their allotted four to eight years. Moreover, its not having an end, properly exploited, would help ensure their eight rather than four years in office.
Printing “stitches”
Very interesting medical breakthrough to improve sealing wounds.
Shellfish and inkjet printers may hold key to faster healing from surgeries
Using the natural glue that marine mussels use to stick to rocks, and a variation on the inkjet printer, a team of researchers led by North Carolina State University has devised a new way of making medical adhesives that could replace traditional sutures and result in less scarring, faster recovery times and increased precision for exacting operations such as eye surgery.
Traditionally, there have been two ways to join tissue together in the wake of a surgery: sutures and synthetic adhesives. Sutures work well, but require enormous skill and longer operating times. Additionally, the use of sutures is associated with a number of surgical complications, including discomfort, infection and inflammation. Synthetic adhesives are also widely used, but they are the source of increasing concerns over their toxicological and environmental effects. One such concern with some synthetic medical adhesives is that – because they are not biodegradable – they do not break down in the body and therefore may cause inflammation, tissue damage, or other problems.
But new research shows that adhesive proteins found in the “glue” produced by marine mussels may be used in place of the synthetic adhesives without these concerns, because they are non-toxic and biodegradable, according to study co-author Dr. Roger Narayan. In addition, the mussel proteins can be placed in solution and applied using inkjet technology to create customized medical adhesives, which may have a host of applications. For example, Narayan says this technique may “significantly improve wound repair in eye surgery, wound closure and fracture fixation.” Narayan is an associate professor in the joint biomedical engineering department of NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“This is an improved way of joining tissues,” Narayan says, “because the use of the inkjet technology gives you greater control over the placement of the adhesive. This helps ensure that the tissues are joined together in just the right spot, forming a better bond that leads to improved healing and less scarring.” This increased control would be a boon for surgery that relies on extreme precision, such as eye repair, Narayan explains.
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The study was performed in collaboration with Professor Jon Wilker in the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University. The Journal of Biomedical Materials Research B will publish the study, “Inkjet printing of adhesives,” in April. The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Office of Naval Research funded the research.
Nanorods boost 3D computer chips
Cool nanotech news in the world of chip manufacture.
Slimmer, Stickier Nanorods Give Boost to 3-D Computer Chips
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a new method for growing slimmer copper nanorods, which can be used as a low-temperature bonding agent for holding together the layers of next-generation 3-D integrated computer chips. The researchers found that interrupting the nanorod growth process results in thinner rods. Pictured are scanning electron images, at the same magnification, of copper nanorods that have been grown without interruption (top), with two interruptions (middle), and with six interruptions (bottom).
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new technique for growing slimmer copper nanorods, a key step for advancing integrated 3-D chip technology.
These thinner copper nanorods fuse together, or anneal, at about 300 degrees Celsius. This relatively low annealing temperature could make the nanorods ideal for use in heat-sensitive nanoelectronics, particularly for “gluing” together the stacked components of 3-D computer chips.
“When fabricating and assembling 3-D chips, and when bonding the silicon wafers together, you want as low a temperature as possible,” said Pei-I Wang, research associate at Rensselaer’s Center for Integrated Electronics. “Slimmer nanorods, by virtue of their smaller diameters, require less heat to anneal. These lower temperatures won’t damage or degrade the delicate semiconductors. The end result is a less expensive, more reliable device.”
Experimental 3-D computer chips are comprised of several layers of stacked components. Wang said these layers can be coated with thin nanorods, and then heated up to 300 degrees Celsius. Around that temperature, the thin nanorods anneal, turn into a continuous thin film, and fuse the layers together. This study was the first demonstration of slimmer nanorods enabling wafer bonding, according to Wang.
Fundamental research concerning the slimmer nanorods was led by Toh-Ming Lu, the R.P. Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics at Rensselaer. Results of the study were recently published in the journal Nanotechnology.
Research into wafer bonding and incorporating the slimmer nanorods into 3-D integrated computer chips was led by James Jian-Qiang Lu, associate professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE) and the Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE) at Rensselaer. Results of the study were recently published in the journal Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters.
The slimmer copper nanorods were formed by periodically interrupting the growth process. The vapor-deposition process was occasionally halted, and the fledgling nanorods were exposed to oxygen. This resulted in a forest of nanorods with diameters between 10 nanometers and 50 nanometers – far smaller than the typical 100-nanometer diameter copper nanorods grown conventionally without interruption.
Vast forests, or arrays, of copper nanorods are produced by vapor deposition at an oblique angle. In a conventional setting, with an uninterrupted stream of copper atoms deposited in a vacuum onto a substrate, the deposition angle naturally results in taller, thicker nanorods.
Periodically interrupting the deposition, and exposing the copper nanorods to ambient air, however, leads to oxygen being absorbed into the surface of the nanorods. During subsequent depositions, this oxidized copper helps to prevent the vaporized copper atoms from migrating away from the very tips of the nanorods. This ensures the nanorods grow taller, without necessarily growing in diameter. The more growth interruptions, the thinner the resulting nanorods, Wang said.
Wang and the research group have filed for a patent for this new technology. The patent is currently pending.
Along with Wang and Toh-Ming Lu, co-authors of the Nanotechnology paper include Gwo Ching Wang, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer; Rensselaer physics graduate student Thomas C. Parker; and Tansel Karabacak, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Co-authors of the Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters paper include Pei-I Wang, Toh-Ming Lu, James Jian-Qiang Lu, Parker, Karabacak, along with Rensselaer research associate Sang Hwui Lee, and Rensselaer Center for Integrated Electronics Senior Applications Engineer Michael D. Frey.
Funding for the research reported in the Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters was provided by the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) through the Interconnect Focus Center-New York.
Visit Toh-Ming Lu’s Web site for more information on advanced thin-film research, or James Jian-Qiang Lu’s Web site for more information on research into 3-D integrated semiconductors.
March 17, 2009
Robotic fashion model
Not sure if this robot is quite ready for Paris or Milan, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.
From the link:
Japanese researchers have unveiled a robot that will soon strut her stuff down a Tokyo catwalk.
The girlie-faced humanoid with slightly oversized eyes, a tiny nose and a shoulder length hair-do boasts 42 motion motors programed to mimic the movements of flesh-and-blood fashion models.
“Hello everybody, I am cybernetic human HRP-4C,” said the futuristic fashionista, opening her media premiere at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology outside Tokyo.
The fashion-bot is 158 centimetres tall, the average height of Japanese women aged 19 to 29, but weighs in at a waif-like 43 kilograms – including batteries.
She has a manga-inspired human face but a silver metallic body.
“If we had made the robot too similar to a real human, it would have been uncanny,” said one of the inventors, humanoid research leader Shuji Kajita.
“We have deliberately leaned toward an anime style.”
The institute said the robot “has been developed mainly for use in the entertainment industry” but is not for sale at the moment.
Did life arrive from space?
Looks like this research from NASA lends a lot of credence to the idea life on Earth arrived via rocks from space. Very interesting.
The release fresh from the inbox:
NASA Researchers Find Clues to a Secret of Life
GREENBELT, Md., March 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA scientists analyzing the dust of meteorites have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)
“We found more support for the idea that biological molecules, like amino acids, created in space and brought to Earth by meteorite impacts help explain why life is left-handed,” said Dr. Daniel Glavin of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “By that I mean why all known life uses only left-handed versions of amino acids to build proteins.” Glavin is lead author of a paper on this research appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences March 16.
Proteins are the workhorse molecules of life, used in everything from structures like hair to enzymes, the catalysts that speed up or regulate chemical reactions. Just as the 26 letters of the alphabet are arranged in limitless combinations to make words, life uses 20 different amino acids in a huge variety of arrangements to build millions of different proteins. Amino acid molecules can be built in two ways that are mirror images of each other, like your hands. Although life based on right-handed amino acids would presumably work fine, “you can’t mix them,” says Dr. Jason Dworkin of NASA Goddard, co-author of the study. “If you do, life turns to something resembling scrambled eggs — it’s a mess. Since life doesn’t work with a mixture of left-handed and right-handed amino acids, the mystery is: how did life decide — what made life choose left-handed amino acids over right-handed ones?”
Over the last four years, the team carefully analyzed samples of meteorites with an abundance of carbon, called carbonaceous chondrites. The researchers looked for the amino acid isovaline and discovered that three types of carbonaceous meteorites had more of the left-handed version than the right-handed variety — as much as a record 18 percent more in the often-studied Murchison meteorite. “Finding more left-handed isovaline in a variety of meteorites supports the theory that amino acids brought to the early Earth by asteroids and comets contributed to the origin of only left-handed based protein life on Earth,” said Glavin.
All amino acids can switch from left-handed to right, or the reverse, by chemical reactions energized with radiation or temperature, according to the team. The scientists looked for isovaline because it has the ability to preserve its handedness for billions of years, and it is extremely rarely used by life, so its presence in meteorites is unlikely to be from contamination by terrestrial life. “The meteorites we studied are from before Earth formed, over 4.5 billion years ago,” said Glavin. “We believe the same process that created extra left-handed isovaline would have created more left-handed versions of the other amino acids found in these meteorites, but the bias toward left-handed versions has been mostly erased after all this time.”
The team’s discovery validates and extends the research first reported a decade ago by Drs. John Cronin and Sandra Pizzarello of Arizona State University, who were first to discover excess isovaline in the Murchison meteorite, believed to be a piece of an asteroid. “We used a different technique to find the excess, and discovered it for the first time in the Orgueil meteorite, which belongs to another meteorite group believed to be from an extinct comet,” said Glavin.
The team also found a pattern to the excess. Different types of meteorites had different amounts of water, as determined by the clays and water-bearing minerals found in the meteorites. The team discovered meteorites with more water also had greater amounts of left-handed isovaline. “This gives us a hint that the creation of extra left-handed amino acids had something to do with alteration by water,” said Dworkin. “Since there are many ways to make extra left-handed amino acids, this discovery considerably narrows down the search.”
If the bias toward left-handedness originated in space, it makes the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system more difficult, while also making its origin a bit more likely, according to the team. “If we find life anywhere else in our solar system, it will probably be microscopic, since microbes can survive in extreme environments,” said Dworkin. “One of the biggest problems in determining if microscopic life is truly extra-terrestrial is making sure the sample wasn’t contaminated by microbes brought from Earth. If we find the life is based on right-handed amino acids, then we know for sure it isn’t from Earth. However, if the bias toward left-handed amino acids began in space, it likely extends across the solar system, so any life we may find on Mars, for example, will also be left-handed. On the other hand, if there is a mechanism to choose handedness before life emerges, it is one less problem prebiotic chemistry has to solve before making life. If it was solved for Earth, it probably has been solved for the other places in our solar system where the recipe for life might exist, such as beneath the surface of Mars, or in potential oceans under the icy crust of Europa and Enceladus, or on Titan.”
The research was funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, the NASA Cosmochemistry program, and the NASA Astrobiology: Exobiology, and Evolutionary Biology program. For an image, refer to:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2009/left_hand_life.html
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: NASA
Web Site: http://www.nasa.gov/
Taxpayers worried about mistakes
There is a simple solution. Hire a qualified tax preparer, or better yet a licenced CPA to prepare your taxes. Unless your tax forms are kindergarten-level simple, a professional will save you more money than the expense.
From the link:
Taxpayers’ Fears of Errors and Oversights May Be Well Founded, CCH Survey Finds RIVERWOODS, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Most taxpayers are concerned they may be making costly mistakes or overlooking tax breaks that could save them money, according to findings from a nationwide CCH CompleteTax(R)survey. The survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, commissioned by CCH and conducted by GfK Roper, found that nearly two in three (66 percent) taxpayers fear they may overlook tax breaks or make mistakes that could cost them in fines or penalties. At the same time, most taxpayers also were unable to determine which tax breaks may be most beneficial, indicating their concerns about costly oversights or mistakes may be well founded.
“It’s always important for taxpayers to understand what they can do to minimize their tax obligation, but it’s even more crucial in tough economic times when people are watching every penny,” said David Bergstein, CPA, a tax analyst for CCH CompleteTax, an online tax preparation and e-filing service for the do-it-yourself taxpayer. “Yet, many people are simply not up-to-speed on tax rules, which may mean they are paying more in taxes than required.”
Specifically, the CCH CompleteTax survey, also discussed in a podcast today, asked taxpayers about basic tax breaks. In each instance less than one-half of taxpayers were able to identify the most beneficial. For example:
- Less than one-fourth could identify that tax credits are generally more advantageous than deductions;
- Only about one-third identified the child-related tax break offering the greatest savings; and
- Less than one-half identified the education-related tax break offering the greatest savings.
In addition, only about one-half of taxpayers report they are planning to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement plans in 2009, and the vast majority of taxpayers still perceive that getting a tax refund is better than owing taxes on April 15.
Take Credits When Eligible
Fewer than one in four individuals (22 percent) were able to answer correctly that a tax credit is generally more advantageous than a tax deduction of the same value, according to the survey.
“Tax credits save you more than tax deductions because they reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar,” said Bergstein.
A taxpayer in the 25-percent tax bracket, for example, claiming a $2,000 credit will reduce his tax bill by $2,000. However, if he claimed a $2,000 deduction, he will only reduce his tax bill by $500.
Know About Other Tax Breaks
Taxpayers also were generally unable to identify the most beneficial tax breaks tied to various life events.
Child-related tax breaks
When asked to identify which child-related tax break offers the typical taxpayer the greatest savings, about one-third (36 percent) identified the child credit, which generally is most likely to yield the greatest tax break to most taxpayers. One in four (24 percent) selected the dependent and child care credit and 23 percent selected the personal exemption. The remainder of those surveyed said they did not know the correct answer.
Exemptions are similar to deductions in that they remove a certain amount of a taxpayer’s income from being taxed. However, unlike credits, they are not a dollar-for-dollar reduction in a person’s tax bill. So even though the personal exemption for a parent with a child under 19 or a full-time student under 24 is $3,500 for 2008, the tax savings for someone in the 15-percent tax bracket, for example, would amount to only $525 ($3,500 x 15%).
The dependent and child care tax credit ranges from 20 percent to 35 percent of expenses for the first $3,000 in care for a child up to age 13 or an older child who is physically or mentally challenged. This can result in a tax savings of $600 to as much as $1,050 for someone with a very low income.
The $1,000 child credit is available to taxpayers with a child under age 17. Income restrictions apply to each.
“Raising children is expensive. But it’s significantly more costly if you are not aware of or taking advantage of the tax breaks for which you may be eligible,” said Bergstein.
Higher education tax breaks
The survey found that people overwhelmingly leaned toward the education deduction over the credits as offering the most tax savings. Specifically, two in five respondents (41 percent) said a deduction for higher education will save a qualifying taxpayer the most compared to only 16 percent choosing the Hope Credit and 14 percent the Lifetime Learning Credit as the bigger tax breaks. The remaining 29 percent said they did not know.
However, the Lifetime Learning Credit or the Hope Credit would likely offer a qualifying taxpayer a bigger tax break than the higher education deduction. The Lifetime Learning Credit is $2,000 per return based on expenses for post-secondary education and the Hope Credit is up to $1,800 per student based on expenses in the first two years of post-secondary undergraduate education. The deduction for higher education is up to $4,000 for qualifying taxpayers. Income restrictions apply to both the deduction and credits.
As a result, if a taxpayer in the 15 percent tax bracket, for example, takes a $4,000 tuition and fees deduction, it would be a $600 savings. In comparison a Lifetime Learning Credit of only $2,000 would reduce a qualifying taxpayer’s tax bill by the full $2,000. The benefit of a credit is a dollar-for-dollar offset rather than the percentage reduction in tax that a deduction provides.
“Tax rules also change so it’s important to keep current. For example, for 2009 and 2010, the Hope Credit is being renamed to American Opportunity Tax Credit; the credit amount is increasing and the coverage expanding,” said Bergstein. “So, it’s important to stay current so that you can maximize your tax savings.”
Retirement tax breaks
Several tax breaks also exist for saving for retirement. Taxpayers were not quizzed on which was the most beneficial, but on whether they plan to contribute to tax-advantaged retirement accounts in 2009. Slightly more than one-half of respondents (51 percent) indicate they will be making contributions; an additional 27 percent of eligible taxpayers will not be contributing at all and 18 percent are not contributing as they’ve already retired; the remainder are not sure of how much, if at all, they will be contributing.
Those planning to contribute include 30 percent who will be contributing about the same amount they did last year, 13 percent who will be contributing more and 8 percent who plan to contribute less than in 2008, the survey found.
“Many people have immediate demands on their finances given the economy, but they should also try to save as much as they can for retirement. Using the available tax benefits offered for IRAs, 401ks and other retirement accounts means more money being set aside for retirement and less being paid in taxes,” said Bergstein.
Refunds Are a Penalty, Not Reward
Finally, taxpayers were asked whether or not they believed it is better to receive a refund or to owe taxes on April 15. Only 7 percent answered correctly that it is better to owe some money, according to the CCH CompleteTax survey.
“Taxpayers still have the misperception that a tax refund is new-found money. It’s not. It’s your money. During the time you’ve left it with the IRS, you have not had it available for your use and you’ve earned no interest on it,” said Bergstein.
For example, rather than receiving a $1,000 refund, had the $1,000 been put in a savings account, even at very low interest rates, a taxpayer could reasonably earn an additional $30 in interest over a year. That may not seem like a lot but even that will cover the cost of using tax software to help prepare and e-file their tax return.
About the Survey Methodology
The nationwide telephone survey was conducted by GfK Roper on behalf of CCH CompleteTax from February 13-25, 2009, among 1,004 adults (age 18 and over). The margin of error on weighted data is +/- 3 percentage points.
About CCH CompleteTax
CCH CompleteTax, an online tax preparation and e-filing service for the do-it-yourself taxpayer, continues to set the standard when it comes to making online tax prep and e-filing easy, efficient and affordable. CCH CompleteTax offers comprehensive support to help taxpayers through each step of preparing and e-filing both federal and state income tax returns.
About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. Among its market-leading products are The ProSystem fx(R) Office, CorpSystem(R), CCH(R) TeamMate, CCH(R) Tax ResearchNetWork(TM), Accounting Research Manager(R) and the U.S. Master Tax Guide(R). CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill.
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal, and regulatory sectors. Wolters Kluwer had 2008 annual revenues of EUR3.4 billion, employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 35 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Visit www.wolterskluwer.com for information about our market positions, customers, brands, and organization.
nb-09-64
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5917572&lang=en
CCH CompleteTax
Source: CCH CompleteTax
Need tax help?
The IRS is opening its doors this coming Saturday to offer advice and answer questions.
The release:
IRS, Partners Mark Super Saturday March 21 to Help Taxpayers
IR-2009-25, March 16, 2009 Audio Files for Podcasts: English Spanish
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and scores of its community partners will open their doors on Saturday, March 21, to help people who need free tax preparation, a question answered or a payment schedule arranged.
The IRS will open more than 250 local offices from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community partners will open approximately 1,000 sites on March 21. Tax return preparation is limited to people who earn $42,000 or less. There is no income limitation for people needing IRS assistance for other services at Taxpayer Assistance Centers.
“Because of the economic downturn, many financially distressed taxpayers may be in need of free services. Our Super Saturday service will make it a little easier for people to get that help. Although our Taxpayer Assistance Centers are not normally open on Saturdays, we’re trying to go the extra mile in these difficult times,” said Doug Shulman, IRS Commissioner. “Our Super Saturday service will help people get their refunds quickly. Also, if you think you owe taxes and can’t pay, please come in and talk to us about it. There are steps we can take to help.”
Locations and hours of operation of Super Saturday sites are available at IRS.gov, keyword Super Saturday. People without computer access can call 1-800-906-9887 to find a nearby IRS or partner office. IRS customer service telephone lines, 1-800-829-1040, also will be available on Super Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to answer tax questions.
People who earn $42,000 or less can have their tax return prepared by the IRS or a community volunteer at participating locations. Filing a tax return may also be the fastest way to get some extra money. More than 80 percent of all taxpayers receive a refund. IRS employees and the community volunteers can help people get all the tax credits and deductions for which they are eligible. Taxpayers who electronically file their tax returns and who use direct deposit can receive their refunds in as few as 10 days.
Because of lost jobs or reduced income, many people may be eligible for certain tax credits for the first time. For example, the Earned Income Tax Credit is for people who work but who do not earn a lot of money. The EITC adds an extra $2,000 benefit on average. It is the government’s largest anti-poverty program. The additional child tax credit and the first-time homebuyers’ credit are important benefits also affected by a taxpayer’s income.
People who owe taxes but who cannot pay should contact the IRS as soon as possible. Regardless of income, people who need payment options can get help at an IRS office. The IRS can help set up an installment payment plan or a deferred payment plan. It is important that people contact the agency so they can avoid penalties and interest that will make their tax bill even higher.
People who want their tax returns prepared should bring the following information:
For those who don’t want to make a trip, the IRS also offers other free services for tax preparation including the Free File program on IRS.gov.
For people with computer access, the IRS web site remains the best place to go for answers, access to forms and publications and other free services. For example, taxpayers will find the latest details on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on the IRS.gov homepage.
People also can track their refunds through “Where’s My Refund?” – another free service offered by the agency. People without computer access can still use “Where’s My Refund?” by calling 1-800-829-1954. Taxpayers should have their tax return handy to use the “Where’s My Refund?” application.
Credit card defaults way up
Way up as in at a twenty-year high. Ouch. Expect a lot more of this type of news for the next while.
From the link:
U.S. credit card defaults rose in February to their highest level in at least 20 years, with losses particularly severe at American Express Co (AXP.N) and Citigroup (C.N) amid a deepening recession.
AmEx, the largest U.S. charge card operator by sales volume, said its net charge-off rate — debts companies believe they will never be able to collect — rose to 8.70 percent in February from 8.30 percent in January.
The credit card company‘s shares wiped out early gains and ended down 3.3 percent as loan losses exceeded expectations. Moshe Orenbuch, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said American Express credit card losses were 10 basis points larger than forecast.
In addition, Citigroup Inc (C.N) — one of the largest issuers of MasterCard cards — disappointed analysts as its default rate soared to 9.33 percent in February, from 6.95 percent a month earlier, according to a report based on trusts representing a portion of securitized credit card debt.
“There is a continued deterioration. Trends in credit cards will get worse before they start getting better,” said Walter Todd, a portfolio manager at Greenwood Capital Associates.
PC circa 2019
At least according to MIT’s Media Lab.
From the link:
One thing everyone seems to agree on: The PC of 2019 won’t look like today’s laptops. “I’m not seeing people carrying anything that looks like a book,” says Dan Siewiorek, a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the university’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. “It would be like a phone or a ring or watch. It will probably take multiple form factors.”
The GOP’s circular firing squad …
… continues apace.
That’s the approach that Jeffrey Kuhner takes to intra-conservative polemics. He attacks David Frum, David Brooks, Ross Douthat, Reihan Salam, Newt Gingrich, and me. We’re supposedly a bunch of Limbaugh-hating, Giuliani-supporting “elitists” who want to “abandon” the defense of the unborn. Yup, that’s me, all right. We’re also “effete” and “amateur Machiavellians.” Kuhner goes after Frum for being soft on immigration, which he isn’t; and he suggests that voters don’t care about health care. It is difficult to exaggerate how stupid the whole piece is. Apparently Kuhner has a regular column in the Washington Times.
March 16, 2009
GOP on GOP polling numbers
Ouch.
The approval rating of GOP leaders among Republicans has plummeted 12 points in a month, down from 55% in February to a minority of 43% now. That’s striking.
Not only that, but approval of GOP leaders overall has dropped to 28% overall — the lowest rating for GOP leaders in 12 years of Pew polling.
In fact, approval of Republican congressional leaders has fallen from 34% in February to 28% currently, the lowest rating for GOP leaders in nearly 14 years of Pew Research surveys.
Why is this happening? Is it general lack of morale among Republicans? Is it that GOP voters are frustrated that their leaders haven’t succeeded in blocking Obama’s agenda? Or could it be that the Dem strategy of using Rush Limbaugh to drive a wedge between die-hard partisan Republicans and those who want to see Obama succeed is working? Something is turning Republicans against their own leadership — in big numbers.
(Hat tip — the Daily Dish)
Obama helping small business
Good to hear. Main Street should be a focus of the stimulus/bailout. Either boost the entire economy or sit back and just let the markets sort themselves out.
From the link:
U.S. President Barack Obama will announce steps on Monday to make it easier for small business owners to borrow money, using $730 million in stimulus funds to cut lending fees, boost loan guarantees and expand other programs, officials said.
“We know that small businesses are the engine of growth in the economy,” said Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “We absolutely want to do things to help them.”
Romer, speaking on the NBC program “Meet the Press” on Sunday, said the government would pump “a significant amount” of money into encouraging small business lending but did not give a total figure.
Lawrence Summers, head of the White House National Economic Council, told ABC’s “This Week” the small businesses plan was part of the president’s overall effort to “put in place a program that addresses the crucial problems and permits (economic) stability to be regained.”
The Obama administration believes small businesses, which accounted for about 70 percent of new job growth over the past 10 years, will ultimately drive the recovery from the current recession, one of worst in decades, a U.S. official said.
The programs being announced on Monday build on the $730 million for small businesses included in the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress last month.
Parsing passwords
Interesting stuff. This is an analysis of passwords from the recently hacked PHPBB site.
New banking rules
Regulation is coming fast to the banking world. I’m no fan of business regulation, but the financial sector has no one to blame but itself for any rules imposed from above. Particularly after taking handouts from the taxpayers.
From the link:
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will soon propose an overhaul of the financial regulatory system that is expected to give the Federal Reserve powers to monitor broad economic risks, a Treasury spokesman confirmed on Monday.
As officials grapple with the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, government officials plan to outline a revamp of controls over banks and financial institutions aimed at preventing a repeat of the crisis.
Geithner is due to soon outline proposed changes that are also expected to include tougher capital standards for banks, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that a Treasury spokesman said is accurate.
The administration’s goal is to unveil its proposals before the meeting of the heads of state of the Group of 20 rich and developing economies in early April, the report said.
The rules are further expected to aim to ensure that banks cannot shop among different regulatory agencies to obtain the most lenient supervision and require more transparency and stricter rules for the way money flows between banks.
“Paper” — a work of short fiction, redux
I first ran this short-short of mine on the blog last January (1/30/08 to be exact) in its very earliest days.
With the financial crisis in full boil, crazy news from the business world (AIG anyone?) and a recession that very possibly could morph into a full-blown depression, I think this cautionary tale is still appropriate.
Following is a piece of short fiction. I originally posted this to my website davidkirkpatrick.com January 17, 2002.
Here’s how I introduced the story then:
“Paper” was written after the stumble, but before the fall of the new economy. Its theme fits nicely with today’s cautionary stock market news, headlined by Enron’s troubles.
What is interesting is how this short bit of dialog was written to reflect the tech crash and how many people ended up overextended with paper, rather than liquid, assets. In some ways it’s even more apropos today with the ongoing mortgage crisis.
Without further adieu, the story …
***
Paper
By David Kirkpatrick
“You making any money on the market?” A. asked.
“Nothing spectacular. I’m in for the long haul. I make it a personal rule to not even take a peek anytime the Dow drops over 200 points. How about yourself?”
“Took an absolute bath at the end of last week, but it did get me to move a large chunk out of techs. I’m starting to see the value in the long haul myself,” said A. He waved his nearly empty scotch glass in the bartender’s direction and received a nod in return.
“Techs are wild. The best story I know from last week’s little correction comes from a tech stock. An acquaintance of mine works for a B2B software firm. Not a dotcom, but still overvalued. When they IPOed last year, her stake in the company made her an instant millionaire, one point or two point something or other. Fourth quarter they announced a growth rate way over the projections and she doubled her wealth overnight.
“Around the same time the company moved her out to the valley to the main headquarters. She went to California and her equity finally reached about six million with all signs pointing to doubling within the year.
“And I can see why she would take all this information and feel good about it–everything was simply going up and up. Her paper, the earnings, everything….”
“I see something bad coming here,” said A.
”Well, fully expecting a paper worth of twelve million dollars in a year’s time, she went out and bought a US five million dollar house in San Francisco. I have no idea how she was able to finance this thing holding a paper wealth of about six and not that long of a history with a fat salary.
“At any rate she bought the house and took on a massive monthly debt service on the thing.”
“Wow,” A. said as he started on his new scotch.
“Even buying the place with the twelve in hand looks like a bad idea to me, but five million in real estate with a paper worth of six million is simply begging for some degree of pain.
“After last week I called her because I knew that she took a real serious hit.”
“How serious?” A. asked.
“As of this morning, two point three. Up slightly from last Friday. The problem isn’t that the stock is going to be worthless, because it’s not. The business model is solid and they have a good product. The pain is in the fact that the trading has become realistic and will probably remain so. She’ll get a slow climb back toward that five or six million dollar mark, but twelve is naturally out of the question…”
“And she’s still holding the note with all that goddam debt service on it.” A commented.
“Precisely. That’s the tricky part of this market. When you start going too fast, it just gets too easy to spiral out of control into a really painful crash and burn.
“So before you get too upset about whatever kind of bath you might have taken, remember that it could have been worse. Much worse.”
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
March 15, 2009
Discovery launches
Good news after a few days of delay.
The release:
STS-119 Launches on Mission to Ready Station for Larger Crew
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., March 15 /PRNewswire/ — Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off today on a mission to deliver the International Space Station’s (ISS) final set of solar array wings that will help fully power science experiments and support an expanded crew of six.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080407/LAM060LOGO)
In addition to supporting the ISS with the delivery and installation of the Starboard 6 truss segment, Discovery is carrying technologies that will enhance the hardware, systems and operations of the next generation of exploration vehicles. The mission is hosting two detailed test objectives (DTOs), or experiments, geared at gaining data to improve the next generation Constellation vehicles, and United Space Alliance played an important role in the development and implementation of both.
The Crew Seat DTO will measure the linear and vibrational acceleration of Shuttle flight deck seat three and mid-deck seats five and seven. Each seat will have three accelerometers placed on the seat pan, the backrest, and the headrest. Acceleration and g-loading data from this DTO will be used in conjunction with human factors data to determine the minimum readable font size during launch for the display formats on the next crew vehicle, Orion.
The Boundary Layer Transition DTO is designed to demonstrate that a protuberance on a BRI-18 thermal protection system tile is safe to fly. Sensors on the tile, information from a long-range infrared camera and data collected by onboard instruments will help engineers evaluate the disruption of supersonic air across the BRI-18 tile, which is currently being considered for use on Orion.
“This mission exemplifies that the Shuttle is a reliable and versatile vehicle that has served and continues to serve our human space exploration needs well,” said Mark Nappi, USA Vice President Launch & Recovery Systems and Florida Site Executive. “Its unique capabilities are being used as a test bed for experiments that directly impact the future of space flight.”
Since its first operational mission, STS-5, the Shuttle has hosted an array of tests and demonstrations that have enabled advancements in various fields including large scale assembly operations and multi-disciplinary sciences.
Large scale assembly operations on previous missions paved the way for current ISS construction work. The EASE/ACCESS test on STS-61B challenged astronauts to construct the first large structures in space. Crew members assembled small components to form larger structures, similar to what is done today in Station assembly.
Science conducted on previous missions demonstrated the ability of the Shuttle to support progressive research over long periods of time. STS-9 was the first flight of the Spacelab system that was designed for on-orbit scientific research in fields ranging from astronomy and meteorology to life science experiments that shed light on how the human body responds to microgravity. This and subsequent Spacelab missions established research protocols and methodologies for long-duration space flight.
“Throughout its history, the Shuttle has served as a proving ground for establishing a productive and permanent human presence in space,” said Nappi. “Its dynamic capabilities have resulted in continuing safety and performance improvements for the current system, as well as a wealth of knowledge that benefits future human space flight endeavors.”
About United Space Alliance:
United Space Alliance is a world leader in space operations with extensive experience in all aspects of the field. Headquartered in Houston, USA has 10,000 employees working in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Currently, USA is applying its broad range of capabilities to NASA’s Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation programs as well as to space operations customers in the commercial and international space industry sectors.
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080407/LAM060LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Source: United Space Alliance
Dick Cheney scrambles …
… for a desperate CYA move.
The man has admitted to war crimes and hopes beyond hope for a terrorist attack to stave off the inevitable prosecution for those crimes.
This should be shouted down by the GOP with full force. But it won’t be.
From the link:
Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday again asserted that President Obama has made the country less safe, arguing that the new administration’s changes to detention and interrogation programs for suspected terrorists would hamper intelligence gathering.
March 14, 2009
Happy Pi day!
No not this sort of pie –
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510 58209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679 82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128 48111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196 44288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091 45648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273 72458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436 78925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094 33057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548 07446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912 98336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798 60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132 00056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872 14684409012249534301465495853710507922796892589235 42019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960 51870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859 50244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881 71010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303 59825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778 18577805321712268066130019278766111959092164201989 For anyone terminally confused at this point, here's the Wikipedia page for pi. Okay -- couldn't leave this crazy video off this post ...
Dump E-Verify
Something the ACLU and the libertarian Cato Instutute can agree on.
(In reality the two groups are in agreement in more areas than not, but both sides tend to distrust the other. I’ve often joked I’m for the ACLU and the NRA. And for the right of any and all opposition groups to exist as well.)
From the link:
Over the weekend, there was a USA Today article giving prime coverage to those who advocated for an E-Verify requirement as part of the economic stimulus package signed into law a couple weeks ago. E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) employment verification program, would require all employers to verify the work eligibility of new hires through error-ridden government databases. The article was particularly troubling because it incorrectly cited the systemic problems associated with using the E-Verify. Very late in the article, it says:
The business groups and immigrant advocacy groups argue that the E-Verify database is riddled with errors that could result in millions of workers being wrongly identified as not authorized for work. They say requiring its use before hiring would impose a cost burden on employers and open them to lawsuits.
We found this really misleading, because the business and immigrant advocacy groups like the ACLU are not alone in arguing E-Verify will result in delays due to the errors in Americans’ files. You know who else agrees with us? The federal government.
If you’d like to see the Cato Institutes take on this bit of government overreach, hit this link.
Health insurance and entrepreneurship
Not certain if I completely buy this concept, but I have to admit it’s very interesting and may well have merit. I’m of mixed-mind in terms of any version of “universal” health-care. The current system is not working. Insurance as an industry is not truly serving its customers and far too many people are without health insurance.
For the next few weeks I’m included in that number, and over my career as a freelancer I’ve rarely been covered. When I have been it’s been on the coattails of my spouse.
From the link:
Even younger startup owners who are relatively healthy and have insurance are just a half-step from disaster. The insurance industry is in the business of not paying claims whenever possible, after all, and health insurers are working hardest to find ways not to cover people who might get sick even as they deny as many claims as possible from people who’ve been paying premiums.
The day we have national health care is the day that we unleash a wave of entrepreneurship the likes of which we’ve never seen before. That’s one of the best reasons for moving toward such a system.
