Teleidoscope

Tue, Mar 27, 2007

Tax Software

Posted at 9:15 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

March 26 2007

I spent part of this weekend getting my records together for doing my taxes.

I am extremely annoyed that there is no tax software usable on Linux. TurboTax, which I have used on Windows in previous years, didn't work last year from my VMWare Windows installation, and reportedly even their web-based Online version (which I don't trust since Intuit has gotten very arrogant over the years) won't work with Linux systems. It takes deliberation to make something not work on browsers across platforms.

I'm googling for alternatives. If I get annoyed enough,I'll just print the forms formt he web and do the taxes manually, though I must admit I've gotten spoiled by electronic filing overt he past few year.

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Hail Spring!

Posted at 9:15 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

March 23 2007 23:21 GMT

That's a Pun.

I'm currently in the midst of the first spring storm complete with token amounts of thunder and lightning and serious hail: half inch size, and enough of it to turn the ground white briefly. I'm impressed. I get a lot of hail in this particular microclimate, but it's usually 1/4 inch fish-tank-gravel sized stuff mixed with rain. I'm hearing lots of thuds from the roof and clanks from the stovepipes for my woodstove and stove vent.

The storm has made the air opaque enough that the satellite dish lost the TV signal for a while, but the TV is back, so the cell must be moving past me.

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Septic System

Posted at 9:14 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

March 15 2007 00:21 GMT

Well, I know what my tax refund, if any is going to be spent on, probably along with a lot of other money. This isn't really unexpected: the current system is 35 years old and was non-standard to begin with, and it's been pretty marginal for the past few years. I think the huge amount of moisture we have had over the past few months kind of swamped it. If I had been home more, I would have had to deal with this sooner.

The existing tank is supposed to be pumped tomorrow. Then I need to hire an engineer licensed by the county, and then someone to do the actual work. One of my neighbors put in a new septic system a few years ago, I should find out who they used.

I can think of lots more fun ways to spend my time and money than this. Though it is probably the septic system's turn: I've spent a bunch of money on the well and pump over the years, and the furnaces and stuff, and haven't really done much with the septic system except get it pumped and roto-rooted a couple of times.

The truck has an appointment at the mechanic's tomorrow. I hope the septic guy doesn't need me... The woman who set up the appointment said I didn't need to be home, but the system is weird enough that I expect at least a phone call.

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The Sharpton/Thurmond Connection

Posted at 9:13 pm MDT to Current Events

Feb 26 2007 5:29 GMT

Sometimes reality is just weirder than fiction. Genealogists and historians have discovered that activist Al Sharpton is descended from slaves owned by relatives of Strom Thurmond.

Rev. Sharpton seems to be amused by it.

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Chimpanzees with Spears

Posted at 9:13 pm MDT to Current Events

Feb 24, 2007 5:08 GMT

Chimpanzees have been observed making and using spears for hunting. Actually, the tools are apparently used as stabbing weapons, not thrown, and they average 60 cm long, so it might be more accurate to call them wooden swords or wooden daggers.

The spear users are a subspecies that has been previously suggested for species status, which would give us 3 species of chimpanzees where a few decades ago only one was generally known. (I have a mental image of bonobos with signs: Make Love Not War.)

There is also archaeological evidence of a different chimpanzee tribe that has been using stone tools for thousands of years.

Both the spear users and stone users are savannah dwellers, not the deep-forest dwellers Jane Goodall studied. The Tetrapodzoology science blog has some good links and references.

One thing that occurs to me is that if there are a bunch of chimpanzee species, they are all much more endangered (because of the fragmented population) than we believed chimpanzees in general to be. Another is that if they have culture, they are vulnerable to cultural disruption if key tribal members are killed by poachers. And chimpanzees in captivity (especially those born in captivity) are probably more or less insane from PTSD and cultural deprivation.

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Acme

Posted at 9:11 pm MDT to Media

Feb 4 2007 18:01 GMT

Seen via MakingLight. Someone has done a complete concordance of all references to Acme in Warner Brothers cartoons.

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Oops.

Posted at 8:54 pm MDT to Miscellaneous

I've just found a bunch of old articles that got buried on the site instead of being properly posted.

I'm going to edit them to show when they should have been posted, and may eventually move thenm to their correct dates.

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Infoworld: Out of Print

Posted at 8:53 pm MDT to Media

I have subscribed to the Infoworld trade paper for several years, but I have been on the road so much that I honestly can't say that I have read a paper copy in ages. I subscribe to some of their blogs and columns via email, and occasionally browse their other online material.

Apparently I am typical of their current readership. They have just announced that they are ending their hardcopy edition.

I get the feeling this is a sign of something... maybe that at least some branches of the publishing industry are experiencing a rush of brains to the head. For something as topical and ephemeral as tech industry news, the lead times needed for paper printing just can't compete.

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