April 2007 - Posts

• Tax My Credit Card!

  Over at DownloadSquad Peter White wrote on April 16th about a new law in consideration by the federal government - requiring online auction sites to report the Social Security numbers of their users. He raises a myriad of valid concerns about this, and I must agree - there are quite a number. But as I was pondering this difficulty I realized a simple way in which the federal and state government's could take a lot of the complexity out of sales tax collection - and also eliminate a lot of the gray market materials that go untaxed.     I'm not sure about everyone else, but I don't think that it is necessarily that we absolutely want to go untaxed on these items (though many would admit it is quite the nice perk), rather it is simply that the methods of reporting these taxes is simply too complex. This has been one of the outstanding issues with mail order catalogs and the internet. Since the buyers and sellers don't have to be in geographical proximity to each other - who pays the sales tax? Technically, the purchaser pays the sales tax - but how many buyers actually remit their sales tax to the state? Not many. While states are attempting to revive these "use tax" laws they have thus far been largely unsuccessful. The number of people that are even aware that these laws exist is extremely minute.     So, listen up governments (and tell me why this isn't a good idea). Instead of continuing to collect sales tax through these cumbersome manual methods, why not just tax my credit card? Every time I make a purchase lump on a sales tax and pay it out to the state in which my credit card is registered. It sure would simplify things a heck of a lot - it could even make sales tax collection easier for companies that are traditional brick and mortar - only requiring them to manually collect tax on purchases made by check or cash.     I must admit, I think about these tax issues much more often than most people. Why? Because I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and I am constantly afraid of stepping outside the bounds of the tax laws and breaking one. With the complexity of the tax system one can expect to have broken not just one but a dozen. For an OCD individual the stress of this knowledge is overwhelming. So, simply for those of us who have tax related OCD symptoms, the law should be changed. :-) ;-) Okay, so I'm working through my fears in this area - and even though my concerns may be partially inspired by unfounded fears over missing some pennies here or there (I've purposely overpaid my taxes at times to avoid this) - I think the recommendation is still valid. Simplify tax collection by automating it through credit card debiting. Its that simple.  Posted Apr 20 2007, 08:36 PM by admin with no comments

• What I Want in a Cell Phone...

  Before I worked for Collages I never had a cell phone. I kind of wondered why people wanted them. Now both Charity and I have cell phones and wonder how we ever lived without them. As a Network Engineer I am regularly on-call, so I have to be able to take calls even when I am not at the house - this necessitated a cell phone. I haven't had a lot of cell phones. My first was a cheap block Nokia cell phone. This was replaced by a Cingular 8125 phone, and right now I temporarily am using a Cingular LG flip phone.     This got me to thinking - what features would I really like to see in a cell phone? I've seen advertisements and articles on phones by companies like Apple (the iPhone), but what would my dream phone have. Well here it is - marketers take note. A flip phone with large display. - One of my main complaints with the 8125 is that it doesn't flip closed, thus protecting the display. As a Network Engineer I move lots of servers. These servers are heavy chunks of metal that desire nothing more than scratching a big dent into my Cingular's screen. A thin phone. - Even though I need a flip phone with a large display, I still want it to be skinny. With the Cingular 8125 I sometimes feel like my pants are about to fall off because of its weight, and its definetly not the sort of phone I want to be in my pocket while I'm playing basketball. A phone with a decent camera. My 8125 has a digital camera, but its like 2 megapixels. Practically worthless in my opinion. A 4 or 5 megapixel camera would do just fine. But who wants to carry around a camera when it can be integrated into one's phone? A phone with music. I want my phone to be able to play music, to replace the iPod. I haven't bought an iPod yet, but I would like to have one. But even more than that I would prefer to have a phone with a big old hard drive that could play music. The less devices the better. An external monitor and keyboard. It would be nice to have a phone that could be setup as a mini-computer. While the 8125's keyboard is fine for quick text messages or emails, its not very good for long letters or notes. I want to be able to unfold a small keyboard and setup a bigger monitor. But the keyboard is the most important factor - the screen isn't even that important.  Posted Apr 09 2007, 08:23 PM by admin with 1 comment(s)

• Centralized Banking.

  Banking has taken great steps forward - but still isn't quite there yet. First, off lets look at some of the great innovations that have occurred in the recent past: - ATM Machines - The ability to quickly withdraw ones money without the need for a bank teller, also the ability to get funds before or after hours. - Online Banking - Allowing individuals to monitor their banking records through a website. - Online Bill Payment - The ability to pay bills without ever physically sending a check. - Online Savings Account - Pioneered by ING Direct, these accounts offer much higher rates of interest than traditional savings accounts. - Tax Management - Software such as Turbotax and TaxCut have made life much easier and cut the costs of filing taxes while increasing the returns. - Credit Cards - The innovation of instant lines of credit which can be used to purchase items when the cash is not readily available.     So what could possibly be missing? An integrated system. I don't want to have to manage several different systems to handle my banking. Rather I want one account that alows me to use a card and decide whether I want it charged to my bank or credit line. I want to have all my information centralized on their servers and a local copy on mine - which I can then tag, organize, etc. I want to pay my bills - and have the choice of using debit or credit through a single interface. I want a way to deposit checks others give me without having to visit a bank or ATM machine. I want monthly reminders on when my bills are due.  Posted Apr 07 2007, 02:42 PM by admin with no comments