Last Minute Tax Tips

Want to maximize your tax refund in this bad economy. USAA magazine gave top 5 last minute tips. Some are obvious, but a few are good.

For example, make sure to pay your January 2009 mortgage in December. This allows you to deduct the interest in calendar year 2008.

Also any expenses you buy on your credit card in December can also be deducted even though you won;t have to pay for them until January.

Here is the full list

Top Needed iPhone Features

After a few months with the Apple iPhone, here is my list of key features that it needs to maintain its dominance over Blackberry and Android. The new google phone is not as flashy as the iPhone but it and the new blackberry storm already have many of the features listed below.

1. Landscape keyboard for every application (especially email and texting)
   
2. Independent ring-tone volume control (so retarded that turning up my ring makes everything louder)
3. Background apps (or the eventual release of the notification system)
4. Open up key parts of the OS to applications like the Calendar
   
5. Wireless calendar sync with google calendar
6. Copy & Paste
7. Contextual menus within certain applications
8. Allow VOIP calls
9. Allow tethering to a laptop

And a few apps I would kill for:

1. Sirius streaming (rumored to be in the works)
2. Netflix streaming
3. Google Calendar Wireless Sync
4. Hulu streaming
5. Yahoo Fantasy Sports app
   

Health Insurance

So, I know I said this blog was done, but then I came upon these links and figured they might be useful to people reviewing their health care benefits. It is a good in depth read about chooking the right plan for you.

Part 1
Part 2

Goodbye

After 450 something posts and a 3+ years I am closing down the blog. I just don't have time to keep it up anymore.

Thanks to all that have visited.

Sarah Palin - Couric Interview

HA HA HA HA.

I actually like McCain, but at his age just the chance that Palin might become president scares me to death. It would be fodder for the late TV guys though.


Transcript 1
Transcript 2 (I particularly like this one)

Video 1
Video 2
My favorite (Does this clip remind anyone else of THIS)

A Week with Google's Chrome

So I have been using Google's new browser named Chrome for the last week exclusively. I was expecting a complete mess and a lot of incompatibility, but it was actually a very easy switch.

Pros:

• Very fast with google applications such as Gmail, Reader and Calendar
• Huge browsing area since the screen is very un-cluttered. I loved this!
  
• Each tab having is own process, if one tab gets bogged down, the other work fine.
• Start page is convenient and fast. This might be a true innovation in the browser space.
• Integrated Search/Location/History bar is easy and fast to use.
  

Cons:

• No Extensions. This will supposedly come eventually, but I did miss some of my Firefox extensions (add-ons).
  
• Similar to Firefox, flash videos sometimes stall after a few seconds.
• I'm told it does not work with hotmail. (Who uses hotmail anymore anyway?)
• Occasional glitch here and there. I am sure now that the browser has been released many of these will be fixed.
  

Verdict: I Like the browser a lot. If Google releases a version for both Mac and PC, allows extensions, and has some kind of bookmark synchronization (like FoxMarks) then I would certainly consider switching. Until then I will stick with Firefox.

Google: Where are the iPhone Apps?

For years I enjoyed a Gmail, Google Calendar Sync (wirelessly), GTalk, Picasaweb and many more applications for my old Blackberry. These were not some formatted website, but real stand-alone applications. Not a single one of those apps have been released yet for the iPhone from Google.

I really thought Google would be all over the App Store by now. Sure Google has some iPhone formatted websites, but that is not the same thing. A web version of an IM client is essentially useless. It needs to be able to run by itself and notify you when you have received a new message. It is not like Google has to start from scratch. They have tons of programming experience, already have released a Google Maps, and the applications are already available for the Blackberry. Besides, you think they would jump at the chance to get a head start on the mobile advertising business.

Part of the reason might be that Google is waiting for Apples "notification system" to go live, but that would only be used by some of their applications.

Google, where are the Apps?

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK

Sure, it is a somewhat boring game between Spurrier's South Carolina and NC State, but it is real genuine football. Not some terrible game between a 1AA school getting killed by a division 1 powerhouse, but a real college football game. Tonight at 8pm Football is back.



GO NOLES!!!