Business and economics |

Taxpayer asks:
I was told to put 1040 and my SS# on the check, which I have done in a rush (yesterday). Today I see a small notice informing me to make check out to US Treasury RATHER than IRS. I’d like to think it’s no big deal. but - I’d like to believe in Santa Claus. I await, hoping you haven’t gone on vacation now tax time is gone.

Taxgirl says:
Lose nary a minute of sleep over it. You’re fine. The government will take its money (almost) any way that they can get it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Absorption Rate is defined as: An estimate of the rate at which a particular classification of space - such as new office space, new housing, new condominium units and the like - will be sold or occupied during a specific time frame.

This is an important number for Buyers because it gives you a general ideal of the market conditions in a given area. Equally important for Sellers as it is a good indication, (when used in conjunction with our pricing grid) of what to expect in terms of “Days on Market”. Higher rates are an indicator of better market conditions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Taxpayer asks:

We thought we’d get an early start on taxes this year, but it didn’t happen. My husband and I used Turbo Tax to do our taxes (we also have two young children) and at first, it said that we owed $1200 or something like that. So, we waited until last minute to redo the taxes and now we’re getting $300 back. Is the stimulus economic refund check the reason we’re now getting a refund back? Not sure if this stiumulus refund check can affect us for this tax season already? Pls advise.

Read the rest of this entry »

Customer-Centered Technorati!

In honor of their third anniversary as a company, Technorati has rolled out a major upgrade. The billboard that Technorati has changed their view to customer-centered is that when you sign in, you’ll find the home page is about you, your blogs, and what you might find interesting — not about Technorati.

I’m already liking these changes.

The Home Page brings what I need together. Everything I use daily is there. I love that the ping is right on top. I can click directly to my indexed posts. The link counts are a lot more accurate. Thank you.Favorites makes sense and is easier. I’m MUCH more likely to use Favorites Now.Technorati Browser Buttons are one reason I’m more likely to use Favorites now. The Search function is faster and has more filters. I very much like that I can filter by language. The Search results have extended excerpts. (Show details.) I can take a closer look without having to click through. The support text is written clearly. That’s a BIG deal to me. Thanks Technorati for getting a great writer to write these bits and pieces. No confusion or ambiguity whatsoever in anything I’ve read so far.I also love the quieter new layout.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not a secret that I am a huge fan of Temple Law School’s tax program. Yes, I’m biased because it’s my alma mater. But I can back it up with real world experiences (yes, plural). In fact, having worked closely with a number of tax professionals over the years, both as colleagues and in the realm of hiring and firing, I’ll be so bold as to say that I think the tax law program at Temple is one of the most underrated in the country (I won’t be so gauche as to name the most overrated…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Assemblyman Charles Calderon of California wants the state to consider imposing a tax on new media downloaded from the internet. He is specifically targeting goods like iTunes which are currently exempt from tax. He claims that the sales tax should apply equally to online and in store purchases.

I think he might have a point.

Please, put away your rotten tomatoes. Don’t hurl them just yet. I don’t think that California will actually implement such a tax. It’s politically dangerous (Republicans in California are already labeling it a “new tax”) and administratively, it could be a nightmare to enforce. The internet is a vast and complicated place when it comes to taxation - which is why many goods are still sold tax free.

Read the rest of this entry »

Look Out Behind You!

Disguises and mystery were part of a Halloween Open Comment Night as people showed up as their alterego or even the alterego or their alterego. We had our own version of the Bloggy Horror Picture Show. The Dread Arachnid terrorized us and may have eaten Boxcar Willy and we know that Darth Varder ate Jar Jar as B-B-Q even before the show. So it was no real surprise when the links started leaking as they always do.

Read the rest of this entry »

Business, Blogs, Living

Did you ever play that game — Follow the Leader — in school? The person in front has an idea, and everyone else does the same thing. You might think it’s a bunch of redundancy. Most times it is.

Read the rest of this entry »

This Is Serious

“Super Bowl site hacked, seeded with exploits” The link is to an article at Zdnet.

The official Web site of Dolphin Stadium, home of Sunday’s Super Bowl XLI, has been hacked and seeded with exploit code targeting two known Windows security flaws.

Full access to your computer, via keystroke logger (spyware) backdoor Trojan (you click on what you think is an interactive functionality, like a game, or external link, or forum comment posting, or advertisement), if unpatched Windows system.

Read the rest of this entry »

I Held Out

On January 29, 2006, I wrote a post to Technorati about a problem I was having. I documented communication since August of 2005. I’ll quote from it because the words I’m quoting are to this day still true.

The original issue has never been resolved. It involved the fact that Technorati wasn’t accurately tracking links to my account and that the count kept getting stuck and links kept getting missed.

At the time I wrote, isn’t 5 Months Patience Enough? Now it’s been 30 months and my blog is still wonky in the Technorati index.

Read the rest of this entry »