Category: Computers and Internet
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Another lesson on why you can’t believe what you read on the Internet
A few days ago I wrote about the danger of incorrect or out-of-date information on the internet at https://novaktony.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/dont-believe-what-you-read-online-especially-about-health-insurance/ Here is another example of why we can’t believe everything on the internet: A woman from Florida called tonight asking for help with finding a Celtic Insurance agent for health insurance. I explained that Celtic no longer offers…
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Email scams about small business accounting
Small business accountants who provide online services report an increase in the number and level of sophistication of various attempted scams presented as business service emails. The emails are typically a purchase confirmation or a request for information about services. I have received a variety of these myself and find it increasingly difficult to separate…
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A fresh look at solid state hard drives for PCs
This post is meant as quick and dirty summary practical advice for an average PC user based on what I’ve learned the hard way. The issue of replacing a hard drive came up again now because I am forced to deal with a problem in my Windows 10 upgrade process. Most PC technology advisers agree that the…
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How secure is Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud?
Editing note: This blog post was first published in August 2015 and updated in September 2016. The concern about hackers is always present but there have been no major data breaches reported for any of these covered services since the date of original publication of the blog post. Meanwhile, data security technology has evolved rapidly over the…
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Browser wars revisited
Internet browsers control the framework of how we interact with the online world. I suspect most people give it little thought and that’s a good sign. Browser functions operating in the background without drawing user attention should be the goal. Third party reviews like this September 2014 review by PC World generally say that all…
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How to use your mobile phone to file income taxes
If you have a simple tax return it is possible to complete the entire filing entire on your mobile phone. 1. Snap and send a photo of your Form W2 and 1099s. 2. Upload last year’s tax return from a cloud drive to the tax preparer. 3. Ask questions via text or email 4. Electronically sign…
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When QuickBooks is a no-brainer
I ran into an old friend by chance on a Philadelphia sidewalk today. We used to see each other often but now he lives more than an hour away with his three dogs at a rural country place in beautiful upper Bucks Country. He knows that I am an accountant but we’ve never “talked business”…
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What’s new in income tax software about the Affordable Care Act
Tax return preparation software must be redesigned this year in response to implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s provisions that took effect in 2014. This is what’s new in most tax preparation software packages about Affordable Care Act: 1) a new Health Care tab to the Data Entry Menu with additional screens or tabs to help complete the…