Penny College

Today, Microsoft officially released the scoop on Kin one and two. Two smart phones with a total social media slant. It has Danger’s (Maker of Sidekick, which Microsoft acquired) fingerprint all over it.

We don’t know if this will pull anyone away from their iphone but it just may make an impact on those still holding on to their Sidekicks and provided that they price it right. The phones will be in stores in May and available exclusively through Verizon.

www.kin.com

The new AAA Report on cost of car ownership has just been release. As expected, the report indicate the cost of ownership rising due to higher fuel, insurance, and depreciation costs. In addition, due to the fact that newer cars having better fuel economy, the older cars are depreciating in cost faster.

Therefore, unless you absolutely must have a car for work or geographic reasons. It would be more economical to have a share membership such as ZipCar or Connect by Hertz which allows you to rent car by the car and offload the normal cost of the ownership.

Full article here: http://www.aaanewsroom.net/main/Default.asp?CategoryID=4&ArticleID=529

Since we’re only a few days away from the dreaded April 15th, filing deadline for incoming taxes. We thought we’ll revisit another popular topic related to taxes – The difference between tax credit and tax deduction.

Both tax credit and tax deduction are good things to have on your side because it helps you lower the amount of taxes you’re responsible for when filing. However, the big difference is how they’re figured and counted. Tax credit is a dollar for dollar amount off your total tax liability. While tax deduction helps you lower your taxable income for the purposes of figuring out your tax liability.

That’s why tax credit is more valuable than tax deduction for most tax payers. For example, Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I finally had a chance to test out the iPad in person at a local Apple store. While I didn’t test it out extensively or tried every applications available, I can provide a few basic thoughts regarding this device. Before Apple fanboys jump on me, keep in mind that this is an unofficial average user’s take on the iPad.

The first thing you will notice regarding the iPad is that the screen is crisp and clear. Whatever brand LCD screen Apple managed to squeeze into the chassis definitely has the right quality of color and density. That said, I don’t know how the screen would fare in direct sunlight. As the screen is is coated with a shiny glass for the touch capabilities.
Read the rest of this entry »

Most people have a limited understanding of cost benefit ratio unless they work in the corporate accounting department. But the concept is actually pretty simple and can have a profound effect on life if one use it to measure whether an task or endeavor is worth undertaking.

Basically, cost benefit ratio is a mathematical or word equation that tries to figure the balance between the effort required to do something and the benefits of the results. Using this formula, the user can figure out whether it would be worth the effort to perform a certain task. While it’s mainly used in business circles, this formula can also be applied to everyday life. In fact, it can be quit useful in daily decision making situations.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today, our favorite technology blog Gizmodo had a great run down on why paying anything above $5 for a HDMI cable is a rip 0ff.  Basically, since the signal is digital, you can use any cable that meets the HDMI specifications and always get a crystal clear picture. So don’t be a douche, use the money you save to donate to a good cause. Buy it from our favorite cheapo store meritline.com instead.

Via: Engadget.com

Since its that time of the year, we’ve decided to answer another common question we get on a regular basis during the tax season. What is an AGI?

Well, to put it simply, income is the grand total number you receive at the end of the year from all your pay and other sources such as interest from savings etc. So the number represent the grand total of all the money you made for the year. However, it does not take into account the taxes you pay on that income or other deductions that you’re allowed (Such as IRA contributions).

AGI, or Adjusted Gross Income, on the other hand is the dollar amount of your income reduced by the deductions and other substractions. For example, the mandatory and elective payments employers substracts from your paycheck. Such as Disability Insurance, health insurance premiums, social security, and other fees you pay that are consider non-taxable. (Hence the reason why people call them “Before tax” money”) Additionally, AGI is also reduced by the money you may have elected to contribute to your retirement accounts such as IRA or 401K.

Therefore, Adjusted Gross Income is the total of your income reduced by the taxes and deductions legally allowed under the law. So your AGI number should always be smaller than your income number. If it’s not, you’ve done something wrong in your calculations.

For the purposes of taxes, AGI is an important number because the smaller your AGI (Your income reduced by deductions), the smaller your tax bill will be.

If you haven’t done so already, please remember that the deadline for the tax year 2009 (Last year) is on April 15, or less than two weeks away. Once again, as a public service announcement. We’re highlighting our three recommended online services that can help you do your taxes and efile for free.

Intuit’s TaxFreedom website. which offers both Federal and State efiling for free for anyone who’s AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) is less than $30,000.

www.taxfreedom.com

HR and Block Free Basic tax fililng. HR and Blocks offers most individuals free tax filing and efiling for free if you meet the basic requirements and have only a simple return and forms.

www.hrblock.com

2nd Story’s TaxAct is another great service that have been around for years but is less well known than the two bigger competitors in this space. However, their offering is solid and can be downloaded as a software or done online. In addition, there the is no income restrictions so the service is open to everyone.

www.taxact.com

For more information, also see our article from the past regarding this issue.

Thinking of buying an Apple iPad? Perhaps you may want to watch the video put together by HP and Adobe. As you’re probably well aware, the iPad will not be able to play any Flash content. Why does that matter? Well, for one, sites like Hulu are encoded in Flash. So without Flash support, you can only view standard HTML pages on web.

There will be always die-hard Apple fans who will pay for the iPad. But you just may want to watch this video and see what the other side is offering before committing.

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/mobile_demos_fp10.1/popup18.html

Strand books is a well known New York City used bookstore that is beloved by many. While the Internet has made the used book market easier to navigate through Amazon or Half.com, nothing quit replaces the joy of browsing the store and flipping through pages. Not to mention the conveniences of getting your book immediately and saving on the shipping for the heavier items.

Another advantage to Strands is the fact that is the dumping ground for overstock books or reviewer copies sent by the publishers of new books to reviewers. So the store tend to carry newer selection in great condition. So if you’re in New York City, you can visit the store at 12th St and Broadway. However, if you’re located elsewhere, there is always the excellent website for the store. Of course, you would have to pay for shipping for the mail route.

www.strandbooks.com