Tuesday, October 26

3Com's Internet Gaming modem claims 43 percent lower ping times and better connection reliability.

Reader Doug Quonstrom found a page on Lucent's site for the generic LT Win Modem driver. There are many other sources, but I'm glad to see Lucent providing generic drivers when they're available, unlike some other company I can think of.

Jim Louderback of ZDNet reviews the NeoPoint 1000. He likes it, but confirms what I had already heard: the PC synchronization doesn't work, which ruins some of the utility.

Your free press at work

St. Martin's Press has stopped publication of a controversial biography of Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush. The book, which alleged Bush was arrested in 1972 for cocaine use, was authored by J.H. Hatfield, a man who was allegedly convicted of hiring a hit man, and whose credentials are now in doubt.

Hatfield denies the charges, and says that it was the publisher who inserted the allegations about Bush's cocaine use.

Fallen journalists

If Hatfield did invent the allegations in his book, he would be part of a long line of journalists who crossed the fat line of ethics into either plagiarizing words or playing fast and loose with the facts.

Janet Cooke, fabulist, Washington Post

Made up a story about Jimmy, an 8-year old heroin addict. The story won Cooke the Pulitzer Prize, which drew the attention of real reporters who knew how to investigate. She was later compelled to return the prize.

 

Stephen Glass, fabulist, The New Republic

The most famous fabulist of recent memory, and the first to drag the Internet into his tangled web. He was fired for writing a made-up story about a 15-year old computer hacker. Instead of copping to the offense, he fabricated voice mail, and made a fake web site for the reputedly-hacked company. Oddly enough, he created an early victory for online reporting: his forgery was printed in a dead trees magazine, and uncovered by Forbes Digital Tool, an online publication.

 

Ruth Shalit, plagiarist, The New Republic

After a stellar rise on the Washington beat, Shalit began plagiarizing passages from other authors' work. Now an advertising critic for Salon.com.

 

Patricia Smith, fabulist, The Boston Globe

Made up characters and quotes as needed. Initially not fired because another Globe columnist, Mike Barnicle, was doing the same thing, and the editors didn't want a double standard (Smith is black and Barnicle is white).

 

Mike Barnicle, fabulist and plagiarist, The Boston Globe

Accused of making up quotes, and convicted of plagiarizing from, among other sources, a George Carlin book. When confronted, he denied having read Carlin's book. A Boston TV station then ran footage of Barnicle recommending the book on TV. Initially not fired because another Globe columnist, Patricia Smith, was doing the same thing, and the editors didn't want a double standard (Smith is black and Barnicle is white). Barnicle now works for MSNBC.

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Friday, October 29

Keith Clayworth wrote to Zoltrix when he couldn't access www.zoltrix.com. Zoltrix explained that their site is down for upgrades, but can be accessed at http://63.73.206.18.

Sega's Dreamcast is overwhelming ISPs in some areas.

A new Apple Tech Note addresses a conflict between AOL and Mac OS 9's Multiple Users feature. MacInTouch is maintaining a Mac OS 9 Compatibility Page.

Friday afternoon goof-off page: CNET's "Ten Most Subversive Hacks of All Time".

New idea: a bandwidth cooperative to provide high-bandwidth Internet access at cost. The San Francisco bandwidth coop provides T1 service for $200 per month.

Fun with money

The bandwidth coop page also discusses the tax benefits of self-employment, though they it make it sound sleazy for some reason. Summary: get a business license (which cost $20 at my county court house), do some business on the side (fixing PCs, building web pages), deduct all of your computer expenses, and possibly car, phone and housing expenses (though that can be audit bait, so do your research; I deduct my business phone, cell phone and Internet connections, but not utilities or mortgage costs). Now that you'll be itemizing deductions, start keeping good records. If you don't already, start keeping all of your receipts, check stubs and deposit slips. You'll also want to use personal finance software such as Quicken or Microsoft Money so that tax time will be a breeze instead of an all-night horror.

There are other financial benefits that aren't available to a wage slave. You can setup a Keogh plan or Simple plan, which are like an IRA, but with higher ceilings on the amount you can contribute each year.

Paying the gummint

Once you're in business, it's worth a hundred bucks to have an accountant do your taxes. He can guide you through paperwork, provide useful advice, and find extra deductions. A common mistake seems to be sticking to an accountant for sentimental reasons. If your accountant isn't saving you money, shop for a new one.

The money you make through your part-time business will probably show up on 1099-Misc forms. (I say probably because smaller businesses may never report your income to the IRS.) The W2 income you earn at work already has taxes taken out of it. 1099 income doesn't, so if you're going to make a profit set aside part of your earnings to pay taxes.

I put Uncle Sam's money in my 56K.COM checking account and pretend like it isn't there until tax time rolls around. You can do something similar, and it's worth the fifteen dollars a month to have the separate checking account. For a small business, the bank can set up a DBA account: Bob Smith doing business as Bob's Web Consulting. In my case, I wound up with two extra accounts: one for my business, Softwords, and one for 56K.COM, because some advertisers make out checks to 56K.COM and my bank wouldn't cash the checks unless I held an account in that name.

Once you're in business, start building a safety net. You could inadvertently libel someone on your web page, or destroy an expensive computer. Put aside some money in savings. Pay an attorney to write your business contracts. Get umbrella liability insurance for a few hundred bucks a year. At some point you should create a legal structure to separate yourself from the business. This could mean forming a corporation or an LLC (Limited Liability Company, which is what Softwords is). That legal abstraction means that someone who sues my company could clean out my business assets, but couldn't touch my personal assets, such as my home, car and savings. When I formed an LLC in Tennessee, the total state costs and legal fees were around $700, but the state fees dropped considerably this year, so the price tag is now closer to $400.

Home business questions? Ideas for saving money? Post them on the Newstalk forum.

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