Not so reassuring problems at domain registrar my domain

There are problems today with MyDomain.com ... it seems that not only is their site affected but also domains with A records without prefixes. Not so reassuring. 

The Complete Mac - How I get the most from the Apple Mac iPhone iPad Ecosystem

This is a bit of a work in progress ... but check out The Complete Mac, which provides an easily browsable summary of all the products and accessories I recommend for Mac, iPhone and iPad users. Enjoy! 

 

Microsoft Told to Put Up or Shut Up on Nevada Tax Dodge Issue

Beginning with the publication of Citizen Microsoft in Seattle Weekly in 2004, I've reported that Microsoft used its Nevada office to avoid payment of the state's Royalty Tax from 1998 - 2010. I've blogged that the amount of the tax dodge has likely exceeded $1.07 billion (not including penalties). 

Last week, after John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, wrote an editorial condemning the company's hypocritical record of tax dodging while advocating for more education funding, Jeffrey Reading, Microsoft's Senior PR Manager wrote The Herald to refute the claims Burbank made (Burbank based his article on my reporting):

"Mr. Burbank does not include sourcing to support his claims regarding Microsoft’s Nevada licensing, which is part of a very complicated piece of state tax law. Much of the information regarding this issue is misinformation primarily spread by a blogger, and no state official has ever provided any factual data supporting his claims."

I stand behind my research and all of my claims. If Microsoft wishes to prove that it paid Washington State Royalty Taxes during the years 1998 - 2010, it should disclose its worldwide licensing revenue and its Royalty Tax payments for this time period. It would be quite simple for the company to provide these two sets of numbers and would put the issue to rest once and for all (as I have done here). 

Read: To Refute Claims, Microsoft Should Disclose Its Royalty Tax Payments

John Burbank Tells Legislature to Target Microsoft

In his Everett Herald column today, John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, zeroes in on Microsoft's tax dodge and its harmful effects on the state's educational system. Read more

Search is faster than folders for email productivity and organizing

IBM study says search is a more productive way to access your email than trying to empty your inbox by organizing it into folders: "finding those emails by digging through folders took 58 seconds, on average, while merely searching for them took 17 seconds."

Am I wasting my time organizing email? A study of email refinding

How to stop Twitter mentions of "Top stories today via" from Paper.li

If you want to stop the annoying Twitter mentions from Paper.li, you can just tweet "@newscrier stop mentions" from your Twitter account. via How to Geek

NewsCloud's Social Media Community Platform Now Has Easy Install

Our NewsCloud open source community-focused social media platform now offers a simple installation process. Check out the video and learn more.

How to show current file in TextMate's Project Drawer?

I'd been wondering this for a while and finally googled for it: how to show the current open file in TextMate's Project Drawer?

Command + Control + R

Conversely, you can find and open a file by keyword with Command + T

 

Domains for sale for under $500

The following domains are for sale for less than $500, contact me (jeff at newscloud dot com) to make an offer:

altgeek.com $250
clubdark.com $250
inkfeed.com $250
wikitorrent.com $250
nextupnow.com $299
bitcommons.com $299
commonpages.net $299
fastblock.com $299
outworlds.com $399
oxygengirl.com $399
dailyshowepisodes.com $499
fatcar.com $499
commonflix.org $499
dailyshownews.com $499
identitycircle.org $499

Moving to a Paperless Office, the Apple Mac iPhone iPad Way

Update: Thanks for the link Macsurfer dudes.

Super Fast Two-Sided Scanning to PDF

Recently, I've been trying to move to an increasingly paperless lifestyle. I'm a Mac, iPhone, iPad owner - so I write from that perspective.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M has been the key to moving in this direction. It's a fast, duplex (double-sided) PDF scanner with an automatic document feeder which really does make it a snap to quickly scan and store documents and receipts to your hard drive. Basically, you insert a document, push a button and the document is quickly stored. It's also compact and designed to easily unjam (which happens occasionally).

Remember Everything in the Cloud

The ScanSnap also works well with Evernote, a free cloud-based organizer of all your links, photos and documents. There is also a great Evernote iPhone application. If you scan a lot, an Evernote premium account only costs $45 per year (or $5/monthly).

Snapshot Notes et al. with the iPhone 4

The improved focus, speed and resolution on the iPhone 4 camera makes it an indispensable new tool in the move towards a paperless office. I regularly photograph everything from business cards to napkin scribbles for my iPhone to remember and upload to Evernote. Note: Thus far, I am not impressed with the Evernote Business Card Manager application - but I'm hoping they make the OCR features more automated.

Obviously, going paperless raises a number of other issues:

Primarily, you need to have a well coordinated backup solution. My friend Phillip Smith at Community Bandwidth wrote up this excellent post on his strategy for secure, automated backups for under $500.

Backup Your Paperless Office in the Cloud

He recommends the BackBlaze online service which seems to work well but not in my particular configuration. It's taking over a month to backup my initial primary desktop and photo library. I'm having to rethink my usage of their service. Backblaze essentially backs up one computer and its external hard drive for $5 per month. However, at least right now, it does not back up external drives that you use with TimeMachine nor network attached storage.

Get a Really Big Encrypted Hard Drive

I also purchased his suggested Secure Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB External Hard Drive WDBAAJ0020HSL-NESN. I especially appreciate its built-in encryption. This drive works phenomenally well with its speedy Firewire 800 interface. I've configured my ScanSnap to scan directly to the My Book Studio.

These days, I scan almost all incoming paper that I need to save and recycle the rest.

Stem the Tide of Incoming Paper

Earlier this year, I signed up for a junk mail prevention service called 41pounds - read more about it at Tales of Change. Basically, for $41, they will gradually help you eliminate catalogs, junk mail and phone book deliveries for five years. I've had good success working with them - and get a fraction of the paper-based mail that I used to. 

When you stem the tide of incoming paper, it's even easier to move to a paperless office.

After You Scan It, Shred It

Now that I'm scanning so much more paper, I have more paper to dispose of...securely. I use a crosscut shredder like the Royal 16. Using a crosscut shredder is a important for minimizing the risk of identity theft.

Failsafe Redundancy

If you want additional redundancy locally, consider a $69 Western Digital Elements 1 TB External Hard Drive to just make a snapshot of your paperless office (and iTunes library) and store it in a Fireproof Safe (yes it fits) ...or with nearby family. You can't beat the price for this additional level of locally accessible redundancy. 

Taking Digital Notes

I've also begun to experiment with an iPad Stylus and Dan Bricklin's Note Taker HD. So far, it hasn't stolen me away from my beloved Moleskine notebooks . I'm a bit more curious about the Livescribe 4 GB Smartpen but haven't yet taken the plunge.

Related links that may interest you:

If you liked this post, you might also like How to save on iPhone text messaging fees and How to save $420 on your Comcast cable bill.