We had the hearing this morning and reached a settlement. No reason to discuss specifics. I will, however, post a longer entry with our general thoughts and feelings later. I’m glad it’s over and we wish everyone well.
Tomorrow is the hearing. Needless to say, I’m not exactly thrilled.
more lists from Gizmodo:
“Gadgets and gimmicks, featured in the Holiday 2007 SkyMall catalog, prove without a doubt that the human race is going straight to Hell”
Our gas bill for the month was almost $150… and the house isn’t exactly toasty…and it hasn’t been really cold. Ugh.
I had no idea, but apparently the IRS subsidizes you to turn in your friends and neighbors with a reward of 10-30% of the amount owed (including fees, penalties, etc…). This is kind of “weasely”, but interesting information to know. On the other hand it’s amazing the lengths the government will go to in order to get the citizenry to sell each other out.
from taxwhistleblowers.org
On December 20, 2006, the President signed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (“the Act’).
Section 406 of the Act dramatically strengthens the IRS’s whistleblower program, by increasing available rewards and creating a reliable enforcement mechanism for whistleblowers to collect them.
Under existing rules, the maximum award generally available to whistleblowers has been 15% of funds recovered by the IRS (including taxes and penalties).
Section 406 establishes a floor of 15% and increases the cap to 30%, in those cases where the IRS pursues an administrative or judicial action against a taxpayer based on information brought to its attention by the whistleblower.
Moreover, while whistleblowers were unable to enforce their claims to awards under the old program (unless they had a contract with the IRS), the new legislation provides that payments to qualified whistleblowers are mandatory, and it permits whistleblowers to appeal IRS award determinations to the Tax Court. If they are successful, whistleblowers will be permitted to take an above-the-line deduction for attorney’s fees and costs paid by them to recover their award.
The new program is limited to claims against taxpayers whose gross annual income exceeds $200,000 and whose potential indebtedness for taxes, penalties, and interest is greater than $2 million.
The statute also places a 10% cap on awards to whistleblowers in certain cases where there have been prior public disclosures of their allegations. Rewards can also be reduced if whistleblowers planned and initiated the actions that led to the underpayments of tax.
The statute provides for the creation of a Whistleblower Office within 12 months to handle incoming whistleblower claims, and it requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on the results. The law will apply to information provided on or after the date of the Act’s enactment.
The IRS is expected to promulgate implementing regulations concerning the new law in the coming year. New developments will be posted here.
More information - here.
In honor of Futurama’s bombastic return to the world of tomorrow (Available for just $17.99!), we present to you the best gadgets in the Futurama universe that we love and fear from their entire history. Yes, we have to admit that being superfans, we already watched the movie three times. Verdict: It’s good!
from digg
Researchers at MIT have released a video and audio search tool that solves one of the most challenging problems in the field: how to break up a lengthy academic lecture into manageable chunks, pinpoint the location of keywords, and direct the user to them. The search engine leverages decades’ worth of speech-recognition research.
via gizmodo and oobject
FROM OOBJECT.COM: A gallery of products using radioactive materials. Because radiation was seen to be new and powerful, at the beginning of the 20th century radioactive material was used in products such as face creams, mineral water and medicine, by equating power with rejuvenation.
Via engadget and hacked gadgets - …not practical, but pretty neat.
Nah, it’s not like tagging an intruder with shades of neon green, yellow and orange will do much to disable him / her, but it would probably make ‘em think twice before going any further. ‘Course, we’re sure one could think of other uses for an automated paintball gun, and for those creative enough to agree, Team Cynergy has put together a videotaped how-to guide for building a laser-based motion detector and connecting it to your gun. We’ll save the technicalities for those who dare to check out the near-10 minute clip posted after the break, but the long and short of it involves a Parralax BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller, a red laser pointer, a servo and a good bit of tinkering (among other things). Besides, this is a lot less dangerous than that motion-activated BB rifle and laser-guided turret you built earlier this year, so why not flex some DIY muscle and give this endeavor a go?
from digg:
Hierakonpolis claims the title to the earliest recorded zombie attack in history. In 1892, a British dig there unearthed a tomb containing a decomposed body, whose brain had been infected with the ‘zombie’ virus, Solanum. In addition, thousands of scratch marks adorned every surface of the tomb as if the corpse had tried to claw it’s way out.
If I keep posting stories about zombies, I’m going to have to create a new category. I just can’t help it, the premise of a zombie invasion is both terrifying and delightfully exciting, all at once. Zombies speak to a disturbing primal side that we try to ignore…This story is really disturbing by the way. Brains..brains….Brains!!!
read more | digg story
So, I’ve got a weird search result on my webpage. Someone was searching for “Andrew Cooper homicide” to end up at my site. I’m not sure if this means someone is trying to kill me, or means someone is trying to see if I’ve killed someone else. Maybe both?
Nonetheless, I suppose there are weirder things. A lot of people end up at my site searching for ballistics gel recipes, because I posted an article from digg with one. I also still get a reasonable amount of bestiality hits because of the Rick Santorum article. Or the article about the cat piano…that’s my favorite.
Well, if something does happen to me, there’s a paper with the leading suspects and why, in a secure safe…in all seriousness. Or, you could check my enemies list… hehe. Hopefully when this hearing is over, things will quiet down for everyone. Speaking of which… I have to go print e-mails…hurray.
So it goes…
Not much to update. Very busy day tomorrow with numerous scheduling conflicts. Woo hoo, I can’t wait. We’re getting ready for the hearing on Friday…not looking forward to that at all. Steph starts a new job tomorrow. Our Thankgiving was unusual, although peaceful. Christmas decorations are up, thanks to Steph. I’ll be posting pictures and details later…other than that, not much to say.
from digg
Wow! Scientists said giant catfish may be world’s largest freshwater fish.
Like the posting says..my digg profile.
I love digg. diggnation too.
This website has posted a spreadsheet that will help me plan my Friday. Since there are really only a couple of good deals in each store, this method is much more enticing than looking through a hundred ads and waiting forever outside in the cold just to find that that store only had 1 good deal to begin with!
Despite not really wanting to…or enjoying it, Steph and I have done the BlackFriday thing for the past three years. If we didn’t get rewarded with some really good deals here and there then we wouldn’t do it. But, for the past few trips we’ve gotten some great tech bargains. So, in honor of suffering for savings:
from Gizmodo:
Other than the one of two clearly awesome deals per store, it’s tough to know if standing your butt in the cold all night will actually save your more money than doing some online comparison shopping from the comfort of your own home. So we’ve done the comparison shopping for you and listed the REAL savings on all the best tech deals hitting Friday.
Sometimes your faith in the system is restored…or at least propped up temporarily, today is one of those days. Our ex D.A. is finally going to have to answer for at least some of his crimes. Hopefully the loathsome scum is going to jail next, it would seem as though he’s earned it.
By Cindi Lash and Janice Crompton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FBI agents seized several items from Washington County District Attorney John C. Pettit’s office today in connection with a federal grand jury investigation.
The search began about 10 a.m. and ended at 2:50 p.m., when the agents, assisted by state police, hauled out six boxes and two bags of material, a computer, some manila envelopes and a big, black safe on wheels.
The officers had brought a subpoena to the county solicitor, J. Lynn DeHaven, this morning, but he directed them to give it to another solicitor, Mary Lyn Drewitz.
Ms. Drewitz said the subpoena ordered the three Washington County commissioners to appear before a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on Jan. 22 and to bring the safe and its contents with them.
Ms. Drewitz said she believes the commissioners won’t have to appear before the grand jury because the federal agents now have the safe and what was in it.
Mr. Pettit, who has been the target of an FBI investigation trying to determine whether he has provided preferential legal treatment to friends and supporters, was not in his office while the search was being conducted. He could not be reached for comment afterward.
But his attorney, Patrick J. Thomassey, said he had no knowledge of a grand jury investigation of Mr. Pettit. He noted that the subpoena was served on Washington County for records that happened to be stored in Mr. Pettit’s office.
County Commissioner Diana Irey said she was told that the subpoena was “to review and/or confiscate contents within the district attorney’s office.”
“They served the subpoena to our solicitor this morning in connection with a federal grand jury, and that’s all we really know,” said Mrs. Irey. “We are giving the authorities our full cooperation.”
Two weeks ago today, Mr. Pettit lost his re-election bid to political newcomer Steven Toprani. The 72-year-old Mr. Pettit was seeking his seventh term in office and had reportedly been the subject of a federal probe for some time
from the Observer-Reporter
FBI agents are searching the the Washington County district attorney’s office this morning, apparently seeking records.
Washington County solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven said agents served a subpeona this morning at his office seeking records from the office of District Attorney John C. Pettit. Between seven and 10 agents are at the DA’s office.
“I can tell you that this was done pursuant to a grand jury investigation” involving the DA’s office, DeHaven said.
Pettit, who lost his bid for re-election to a seventh term in the general election to Republican Steven Toprani, acknowledged last year that he was the subject of an FBI investigation into alleged abuses of his office.
County Commissioner Diana Irey said Tuesday that “the authorities have our complete cooperation.”
This stinks. I was planning on hoarding my Microsoft points for these, but without Achievements….meh…I don’t know now. Bad move M$. Oh well, I’ll keep playing Halo3 and the Orange Box
from digg:
Major Nelson, Xbox Live’s Director of Programming, has confirmed that the newly announced Xbox Originals titles will not feature achievements and thus there will be no advantage to buying them on Xbox Live over buying them on disc (in most cases, the games are far cheaper to buy on disc preowned). A huge missed opportunity? You better believe it!
from