Entrepreneurial Ramblings

I’m on my fourth Honda and I must say that I love Honda products. However, I have to point out the one, highly annoying aspect of my latest Honda that may prevent me from purchasing another Honda in the future. The little yellow check engine icon comes on sporadically, and no, the engine is just fine. Basically, it’s a false alarm. My old 1994 Civic hatchback used to have the check engine light come on when I was driving down a steep hill. I believe this is because air entered the engine are through the hood when driving down hill and caused the sensor to trigger the check engine light; however, this time around with a brand new 2007 Accord, the light just seems to come on sporadically, particularly when the car is cold and the gas tank is above half full. It seems that Honda, in the 13 years between 1994 and 2007 has been unable to successfully fix the check engine light from false alarms. I am annoyed. Very annoyed, as I cannot possibly think of a bigger waste of time than taking a brand new car back to a dealership for a totally unnecessary repair / check up / fix up. I really don’t wanna try and pull a fuse, but I’m considering the idea.

Oracle Founder Larry Ellison’s IPO of NetSuite (NYSE: N) is the popular stock picker’s public confirmation that browser based softwares are the wave of the future, where all you need is an internet connection and a browser – not even a hard drive.  Browser based softwares including Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), Concur (NASDAQ: CNQR), and Intuit’s TurboTaxOnline and QuickbooksOnline (NASDAQ: INTU), whereby no desktop software need to be installed and users simply pay a monthly license fee while the provider manages all of the backups, storage, etc. are sweeping the accounting software business and rightfully so.  It’s only a matter of time before Microsoft’s Dynamics GP (formerly known as Great Plains) will adjust and starts offering it’s own solution, along with it’s CRM package, through a fully integrated online portal. If they don’t offer a cloud based accounting product, Microsoft’s may lose customers to the likes of Salesforce.com, NetSuite, Intuit, and Concur.

Call me totally bonkers, but I’m hereby advocating that everyone (or should I say no one because I seriously don’t think anyone actually reads this blog) use Turbotax to prepare their personal income tax returns this year. Only if you are still totally clueless and unable to understand how to prepare your return using Turobotax after trying on your own, should you then seek outside advice from your CPA. I am confident that if you follow the directions step by step, you can prepare and file your own return and save yourself at least 150 bucks, if not $500 or more for some folks.  In the event that the title of this post is confusing, the “Accountants in Employment Act” is my take on why accountants are able to make a living.  This is not real law, but rather how I refer to the US tax code in sarcastic terms.  The US tax code is so confusing, that ordinary citizens cannot handle their own personal taxes, thereby giving rise to the need for accountants.  By the way, I am one of these accountants.  I just find it funny that we create such a complicated rules (tax) system that it gives rise to an entire profession, one that I am a part of.  It sure pays the rent, but overall, the need for accountants just seems odd to me.  Life should just be more simple that having to annually consult professionals.  For the record in addition to doing my own taxes, I also cut my own hair.

For non advertising campaign shooting pros and prosumers, once you get to 6MP, let alone 8MP, you have enough size and anything bigger is just extra, and not really necessary 99.999% of the time . It’s also wise to go with the model that will ultimately accept an extension grip for easier verticle shooting. Although not immediately obvious, for an editorial shooter, the vertically oriented photograph is the primary image orientation.