Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Yep. An organization that promotes adoption by the public sector and government in Canada is suing the government of Quebec for buying expensive proprietary software from mega corporations like Microsoft and Oracle.

Linux Journal sums it up here.

The full article can be found on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation site, here.

The press release from FACIL, the organization in question, about the suit is here.

On the one hand I agree with LJ writer Marcel Gagne that it seems fiscally irresponsible for governments to claim poverty while spending a lot of money on software. On the other hand, I have to wonder what type of reliable, constant support is out there for free software. I know everything I have ever downloaded that was open source or free explicitly states that there is no organized support, just forums and listservs–which may have the solution a user is looking for, but it is not always easy to find.

I can see both sides on this one, so it will be interesting in the coming months (years? this is the goverment we’re talking about here…) to see how this develops…

What do you think?

This is just too cool (my geek is showing, excuse me).

The physics are way beyond me, so I’m just going to point the way to the CNN article about a recent Intel demo of a light bulb being powered by a source THREE FEET away. It’s a small step on the road to potential wireless power, but it is cool. I think.

I was doing good til I remembered all the urban legends about living under/near power lines–What happens to those legends if the power is just in the air? Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that this is still far from being a viable power delivery system.

Read the article and decide for yourself. Even better, come back and let us know what you think. Either way, have a great, hopefully labor-free Labor Day next week!

The new housing bill signed by President Bush has a lot of tax provisions and changes in it. They are, quite honestly, over ~my~ head, so if you have questions ask Candy, or your tax attorney.

For accountingweb.com’s lowdown on the changes, read their handy cheatsheet/article here.

Last December we told you about the new Form 990 for tax exempt entities that was coming–effective in 2009 for filing 2008 taxes.

Now the IRS is telling folks how to fill it out when the time comes.

The IRS released instructions for the long form 990 today, and announced that instructions for the 990-EZ form will be coming soon. The need for separate instructions belies the form’s name in my mind (EZ?) but, I don’t work for the IRS…

The new forms are intended to make the operations of non-profit and tax exempt entities more transparent to the public, since their tax returns are public records.

If you work from home, whether for yourself or someone else, you know how quiet it can be. Deadly quiet. So quiet, at least when the kids are at school, that the sound of the air conditioner turning on sets your heart racing.

Once the adrenaline rush is gone, you decide you’ve GOT to get out for a little while. You pack up your computer and head to the local wireless hotspot, or a park if you’re working offline. It is undeniably noisier, but you’re still alone. No one knows you and many people will deliberately avoid you, afraid they might be interrupting.

So what do you do? Find a jelly! A jelly is a combination social event, networking and just plain work designed to help the self-employed or remote employee get a little human interaction every now and then.

For more info, check out this spiffy post on The Virtual Legal Assistant Blog. If you’re in Austin, and curious about co-working (another term for people working side by side who do not work together) and the new meeting venue for it here, check out Conjunctured’s web site.

We all know the housing market is in a slump and sellers are having a rough time of it, but still…

A Photo Contest with a HOUSE as the Prize?

Yep. Read the article with a bit more detail (legal questions to answer, hoped for minimum number of entries, etc.) here. Then click on the link above if you want to get out your camera and try your luck. Just do it fast since the entry period closes this Friday, 8/15/08.

Now’s your chance!

The IRS released draft versions of several new tax forms last week and invited the public to comment on them. This isn’t the first time, either. The changes in the form drafts released this week were made to reflect comments made by the public when the initial drafts were posted for public comment in August 2007.

Read the rest of the accountingweb article here.

Or get it straight from the horse’s mouth here.

But if you have something to say, speak up quick! Public comments on the form drafts need to be directed to Judith.A.McNamara@irs.gov and must be sent by the 25th of August (8/25/08).

Hunting for the lowest price is not always a good idea. Don’t get me wrong, everyone loves a bargain, and had the bargain hunter in the article below succeeded, well, it would have been horrible. But he didn’t. So instead it is just disturbing and frankly, funny-sad that anyone would be (a) this vindictive and malicious & (b) this stupid.

Never bargain hunt for a hitman to take out your IRS auditor!

According to a recent accountingweb article, many families are unaware of the many options available for funding higher education.

People are stumbling over the differences between grants and loans, secured vs. unsecured loans, and tax issues that accompany work-study programs, among other things.

While we are years away from worrying about college here at OffAssist, it never hurts to learn how it works, right?

If you use Twitter, you know what the Fail Whale is. He’s been surfacing a lot this week, so I thought it was a good time to mention him. If you don’t know who/what the Fail Whale is, it’s okay, this great article from ReadWriteWeb explains all about it.

I love the story behind the Fail Whale. In an era where we all have CopyScape buttons on our web pages and an attorney on retainer to fight content theft, it shows how web-based communities can band together to do right by the artists who create the media found and enjoyed on the web. You gotta admit, that is much better than the usual exploitation stories.