Taxman: The Blog

2023-05-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

My Blog is Still Here...Where am I?

My last blog entry was in January 2021, yet my blog is still here. I've seen too many blog posts that say I know I haven't been here in a while but I'm going to do better now. Ironically, those are often the most recent posts on those blogs. It doesn't stick. I will make no such promises.

I'm watching Game 6 of the Dallas Stars vs. Seattle Kraken. This game is nearly over and I suspect Seattle has got this. They will at least be going back to Dallas for Game 7. I hope the Stars can get back into this. I'm not ready for Hockey to be over.

Earlier this week, I took the SIM out of my iPhone 12 Mini and put it into a Cingular Flip IV flip phone to experiment with digital minimalism. There are lots of good resources about using feature phones or special phones like the Light Phone to stop the endless death scrolling that sucks your time and attention. Jose Briones is a great resource on this topic and he runs a dumbphone finder to help people find a feature phone that meets their needs. This got a lot more difficult on AT&T network when AT&T shut down its 3G network and implemented severe restrictions on the phones that will work on its network. I didn't mind using the Cingular Flip with its T9 keypad, but the last straw was when my wife and I were driving around in my SUV and the entertainment center kept crashing and rebooting. I Googled and experimented with different problem-solving on why the radio was crashing. It occurred to me that I had connected the flip phone to my car's bluetooth only yesterday afternoon, so I decided to try turning off the bluetooth on my phone. Problem solved. SIM is now back in the iPhone. Experiment over.

Tax Season 2021: Late Start But No Extension

2021-01-22T21:24:00.005-06:00

We are underway for another tax season, even though it seems like the last one just ended. The IRS has announced that it will start accepting e-filed returns on February 12, 2021, which is about two weeks later than usual. According to IRS Notice IR-2021-16, the February 12 start date allows the IRS to do additional programming and testing of IRS systems following the December 27th tax law changes that provided a second round of economic stimulus payments and other benefits.

There has not any talk of changing the due date past the traditional April 15 deadline. I've been a practitioner for over 35 years and many times I wished that I could have more time to file returns before the deadline. Last year, when IRS extended the due date to July 15th, I learned the hard lesson that I really didn't want that extra time. Let's hope we can wrap this up on time in 2021 without having to repeat the tax season from hell.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2021-tax-filing-season-begins-feb-12-irs-outlines-steps-to-speed-refunds-during-pandemic

Adventures in Retro Computing

2020-07-22T08:25:00.002-05:00

Instead of catching the COVID virus, it appears instead that I have been bitten by the retro-computing bug. I owe this in part to discovering videos and podcasts by Brian Lunduke.

https://lunduke.com/

A blog post by Andrew Roach also caught my fancy

http://ajroach42.com/a-modern-office-with-vintage-hardware/

So from there, I started thinking about 8-bit computers and how I wanted to interact with them. Why 8-bit? I have David Murray partly to blame:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uT9cgJorJPWu7ITLGo9Ww

David is the 8-Bit Guy and his videos explore many aspects of the 8-bit computer world, including restoration of old hardware.

The 8-bit computer of my teen years was the Commodore 64. I've been reluctant to buy an actual Commodore 64 because of stories of boards needing to be "recapped" to replace failing capacitors and needing new power supplies. Plus, a working Commodore 64 requires peripherals like the 1541 drive, modem, floppy disks and expansion cards to be useful. So instead, I ended up with one of these:

https://retrogames.biz/thec64

The "Maxi" is not currently available in the USA so I bought my from the UK from this site:

https://www.shop4megastore.com/

The C64 runs on a single board computer like a Raspberry Pi and uses a Commodore 64 emulator called VICE instead of the original C64 hardware. Still, The C64 offers a very realistic user experience that plugs into modern HDMI monitors and runs programs off a USB memory stick. I love the C64!

Yet, still I wanted an actual vintage machine. I decided that I would go with the Apple IIc. I liked the design element of the Apple IIc and the fact that its compact case included most of the expansion options that people tended to add to earlier models of the Apple II. I found a reasonably priced Apple IIc on EBay after much watching and I am now in the process of setting it up and defining how I will use it in 2020. I will be writing more about that in future posts so stay safe and stay tuned!

Tax Blogger Needed

2017-05-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

I read the news today oh boy. Nope, this isn't about the 50th anniversary of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band, of which I'm a huge fan. Instead, I'm referring to the news from Peter J Reilly's column at Forbes.com in Hole Opens In Tax Blogosphere - Say It Ain't So Joe that Joe Kristan was hanging up his blog was hanging up his tax blog here.

Apparently, his Roth & Co CPA firm has joined the larger firm Eide Bailly and blogging his not part of the deal. Joe is a pioneer in the tax blogging world and a regular read for me. I will miss his writing and wish him all the best. Maybe I'll start commenting on some tax cases as time permits.

Apple Cinema Display Meet Microsoft Surface Pro

2014-01-23T21:23:00.002-06:00

Even though my Microsoft Surface Pro tablet has a mini display port, I couldn't get the diminutive windows wonder to power my 27" Apple Cinema Display (the LED version before Thunderbolt). Fortunately, I found an economical way to get things working. The key to success was finding the Kanex-SnapX-2x-Switcher-Mac on Amazon for about $55. This device is intended to permit sharing of the display between two Apple computers, but it works great with one or two non-Apple devices plugged into it as well. I've successfully used both my Surface Pro and a Samsung Chromebook Series 550 with the addition of a display port to mini display port adapter. Not the most elegant solution, maybe, but it is a workable solution that won't cost you a lot of dough.

Video: Microsoft Surface Boot Time

2012-10-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

Check out this short video to see just how quickly the Microsoft Surface boots up.

Microsoft Surface: More Thoughts from an Early Adopter

2012-10-28T20:06:00.001-05:00

Today was day two of my out-of-box experience with the Microsoft Surface tablet. Here are some quick thoughts on the experience so far:

A little personalization of home screen

Music and Photos -- I was able to connect my phone (a Blackberry Bold) to the Surface using a USB cable. It was easy to transfer photos from the phone to the Surface. I could also copy music files from the phone to the Surface by treating the phone as a connected drive and dragging files from the phone to the storage on my tablet. The files were recognized by the music player app and played fine. Like others have stated, the speakers aren't that good but they'll do. Headphones sound great. One odd thing is that M4A (AAC encoding) files play on the Surface but you can't view the cover art while the song plays. Cover art does show properly on MP3 encoded files. I contacted Microsoft support and confirmed that this is they way it is.

Scanning - There's a USB port, can I just connect my scanner and push the scan button? Sadly no. My scanner is an Epson GT-S50 scanner that uses generic TWAIN drivers so I was hopeful it would be supported. Definitely not, as Microsoft support confirmed. On a more positive note, the Windows Store has an HP app called Scan and Capture that works with their all-in-one printers. I successfully scanned a document over wifi using the HP Officejet 8600 Pro in my office. I haven't tried yet to connect the printer to my device with USB but I have successfully printed to the 8600 from the Surface.

Printing - Printing is much better with Surface than with iPad or even with Chromebook. It's more like printing from a Windows computer. Even though I use HP wireless printers that support e-print and Google Cloud print, I have better control over output and the print job happens much faster than with the other devices. If you need to kill trees to get your work done, you'll appreciate the Surface over the iPad or Chromebook.
Remote Desktop Connect - If your work involves connecting to a server with Microsoft Remote Desktop, the app is included and works great! I was able to map the local storage on Surface to the remote server and transfer files. I was also able to print from the remote server to a local printer much like I can do on a PC or Mac. Chromebook will also print local if I use Sparkview or Ericom Access Now, but it's a more complicated process involving a separate tab with a PDF view. Find the remote desktop connection app from the home page by swiping up from the bottom and selecting all apps. You can drag down slightly on the RDC app icon and a menu will pop up on the bottom with an option to pin the icon to the home page.
Typing - I bought the red touch cover with my Surface. Yesterday, my typing was atrocious. Today it is way better. I'm touch typing with greater speed and way fewer typos. I still have some room for improvement. Propping up the Surface on my lap with kickstand and typing on keyboard works better than I imagined it would.
Reader - I love the news reader app. You can opt to pin particular publications on your home page if you want. It is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and there's a lot of free content.

Mail - This app is an abomination. I can't believe this app comes from the creator of Outlook!
One Note - I'm rediscovering this app. It's not as touch friendly as I'd like. Still, it's nice that the app is included. Evernote is available for download from the Windows store if you've moved on.
Browser - This is a one-app town. It's IE 10 or nuthin'. I'm okay with that for now, but I still miss Chrome.

I hope these random thoughts give you a better idea of what it's like to use the Surface tablet. I'll post more thoughts over the next few days.

Microsoft Surface Tablet - Initial Thoughts

2012-10-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

In my previous post, I described the shopping experience in buying my new Microsoft Surface tablet. I'm just getting started with using the device but I wanted to share some initial thoughts.

Belle is checking out the new tablet. Who knew she was a Microsoftie!

Although I did the initial set-up of my tablet at the Microsoft store, I had much more to play with when I got home. After adding additional email accounts, Twitter and Facebook, I checked out the app store. Like you've read, the cupboards are pretty bare at the moment, but I did download Netflix, Youtube player, USA Today, Youverse Bible, Kindle Reader, Overdrive Media Console, Pocket Recorder and a couple of other apps. In addition, to the downloaded apps, there were 15 apps that needed to update...

Out of the box, Office 2013 is a "Preview Edition." However, there is an update that will install the final version of Office 2013 as well as update the Flash player for Internet Explorer. Curiously, this update wasn't accessed from the Windows Store like I figured it would. Instead, I had to go to the Windows 7 style desktop, find the control panel (point with your mouse to where the start button would be in the lower left corner and right click), and run software update like I was still running Windows 7. The update is over 500MB and takes a while to install.

I will write more about using the Surface Tablet later, and I will compare to Chromebook and iPad. I did discover that my Sirius XM Online would play, but only so long as I didn't open another browser tab or switch to a different application.

The Surface is a beautiful device and I think it holds a lot of promise. The UI is a bit confusing. I'm not always sure which way to swipe to do what I want to do, and sometimes, even when I do know what to do, I have to repeat the gesture a few times to make it work. I can imagine this would be maddening for many people. Still, I plan to use this device a ton and will share more thoughts over the next few days.

The Microsoft Shopping Experience

2012-10-27T17:53:00.004-05:00

Today is my first day with the Microsoft Surface. I was reading all the launch reviews like I usually do when some exciting new tech gadget is announced. While my wife and I were at dinner, Friday night, she mentioned that she'd seen a news story about the new Microsoft tablet and that there was what TV called a "pop-up" Microsoft Store in the neighboring community of Frisco, TX. She asked me if I wanted to drive over there and see the new tablet first hand. My wife is very tolerant of my fascination with shiny objects, and this was very cool of her to make this suggestion, so I jumped at the opportunity.

At the Microsoft Store, I was able to spend some hands-on time with a demo model and confirm that remote desktop connect (a mission critical app for me) was included and that it would work with my virtual server. It is included (even though the sales rep insisted it wasn’t) and it worked fabulously. Unfortunately, they were sold out. The sales rep said another shipment was arriving overnight.

This morning, after my weekly Saturday morning breakfast with a couple of friends, I decided to head back over to Frisco and see if I could score a Surface Tablet.

There was a line, but not bad….

Several Microsoft event staff were there to take our orders and answer our questions while we waited in line. They also offered us breakfast bars and bottled water. Blue is apparently the most popular touch cover at this location (I chose red). Most of the people I saw in line were selecting colored covers rather than choosing the $599 bundle with black cover. One software developer in line near me selected the type cover. It was only slightly thicker than my touch cover. I chose the 32 GB model with the red touch cover and I also purchased the VGA and HDMI adapters.

When I got to the front of the line, they called my name and had my order bagged and ready. They rang me up and asked if I wanted to stick around for the "out of box experience" (aka set-up). I opted to do that because I didn't want to go all the way home and find out something was not working. I asked and was told that they had a 14-day return policy, contrary to a blog post that I read that there were no open-box returns. The whole wait, order, and set-up took only an hour and I was very impressed by the way the Microsoft staff handled the event. They opened up with a ra-ra Microsoft cheer at 10AM and their enthusiasm and excitement about the product was evident as they helped the customer in line. Apple may have pioneered the modern computer shopping experience, but these Microsoft employees have learned how to execute good customer service as well.

Apple Cinema Display: It's a Beauty! Just make sure you are committed!

2012-09-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

About a year ago, maybe longer, I purchased the 27" Apple Cinema Display for my office. It is a beautiful work space and works amazingly well with my MacBook Pro. My only beef with this display is that it doesn't play well outside the Apple-sphere. There's no cheating around with the Apple Cinema Display. I have the model that was released before Thunderbolt with the mini displayport adapter.

Unlike most monitors that have a series of ports on the back of the screen into which you plug a cable such as VGA, HDMI, or DVI, the Apple Cinema Display has a single cord coming out of the back that includes a USB cable, power cord, and male mini displayport. The new version is similarly configured but has a thunderbolt port instead of mini displayport. This set-up works great for pairing the display with a Mac. But, if you want to use this fabulous screen with any other device, there's trouble to be had and an unhappy ending.

I did find a couple of converters made by Altona and Kanex that purport to convert HDMI signals to mini display port on the Cinema Display but they are pricey (around $200) and only provide 720P resolution (1200 x 768). Ugh! There is apparently an adapter that will work with a PC or other device that has the larger display port + output [link here] but that's about the only other possibility I've been able to uncover.

Am I missing anything? I'd love to discover more ways to use this great screen. Anyway, you get the point. The Apple Cinema Display is a very talented one-trick pony, but it is definitely a pony with one trick.

Scan to Chromebook

2012-06-13T21:56:00.001-05:00

A question that I've seen raised regarding the Chromebook is "can I scan documents to my Chromebook?" Unfortunately, it isn't possible to plug your TWAIN scanner or all-in-one printer directly into your Chromebook because Chrome OS doesn't provide any printer or scanner drivers. However, all is not lost!

Many all-in-one printers that connect to a network with wifi have a web interface that can be accessed from the Chromebook. My HP Officejet 6500A Plus all-in-one printer has an embedded web server that you access by entering the IP address for the printer on my home network. In my case, the IP address is 10.0.1.3

The screen at right is what I see on my Chromebook browser when I get to the webscan page. Simply place the document you want to scan on the scanner, choose whether you want to scan the document as JPEG or PDF, the page size, and other settings. Then choose "start scan" button. When the scan is done, right click on the preview image and either select "save as" to save the scanned document to local storage on the Chromebook. Once saved to local storage, you can upload the document to Google Drive or Dropbox. If you'd prefer, you can right click on the preview image and choose "print". Then select "cloud print" and choose "Google Drive" as the cloud printer. It will save the document as a PDF in your Google Drive.

Another option is to scan the document to an SD card if your all-in-one printer has an SD card slot and a "scan to card" option.

Of course, an other option is to take a picture of the item and transfer it to your Chromebook by removing the SD card from the camera and inserting it into the Chromebook or by connecting the camera to the Chromebook via USB cable.

So, it is possible to scan documents to a Chromebook. It just takes a little creativity.

Microsoft: Being Difficult Could Backfire

2012-06-04T09:33:00.001-05:00

As a CPA, I'm not going to be doing away with spreadsheets any time soon. And, as a CPA in public practice, I need to make sure that the spreadsheets I create can be shared seamlessly with my clients. That means that while iWork Numbers and Google Sheet are very capable products, there are enough gotchas in terms of formatting compatibilities to make sharing even simple spreadsheets a chore.

Yet, iPads and Android tablets and other devices like Chromebooks are becoming more popular and CPAs aren't immune to wanting the latest gadgets. In fact, for some of us, it's a disease. :) So, can Microsoft "win" by holding back its Office suite for Windows 8 tablets? Maybe for a short period of time, but the competitors are so close to making their products a suitable replacement to Excel and Word that any Microsoft advantage won't be long term. Microsoft needs to lock users in to using Office on these non-Windows devices. When I run Windows, I'm not constantly thinking whether there's something besides Excel that I should be using to make spreadsheets, but when I use my iPad or my Chromebook, I'm constantly thinking about what app I should be using to be compatible with Excel. If Microsoft jumps in early enough, they can win the mindshare and keep me using Excel on all my devices for long term. If they wait to long, I might just figure out that Google Sheet or Numbers works just fine. My 2 cents. Your thoughts?

Microsoft quandary: Can Windows-first policy work in the iPad era? — Apple News, Tips and Reviews:

'via Blog this'

How I Tweet: Silver Bird Extension For Chrome

2012-06-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

Since I'm spending much more time in the Google Chrome environment on all my computers. I was looking for a Chrome extension that would work on all of them and that wouldn't get in my way. I found Silver Bird and I really like it. One click on the icon in the top right of my browser launches a drop-down screen (see image) with multiple tabs for a quick view of what's happening. You can also compose a tweet, search, and view lists.

You can customize notifications, including desktop bubbles that appear briefly when you receive new tweets. If you are a Chrome user, check out Silver Bird.

Silverbird – Google Chrome Twitter client « The Blog of Charles:

'via Blog this'

Keeping it All on the Cloud

2012-06-02T15:00:00.001-05:00

For the past year, I've hosted all my Windows applications and data on a virtual server with Cloud9realtime.com. My staff has access to all of the Windows applications that we need such as QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition, ATX tax return preparation software, Microsoft Office, RIA Go-System, Sage FAS 100, and BNA Tax Planner. We can host multiple year versions of these applications as well.

Remote workers can access this virtual work environment from any machine anywhere. I've used accessed the server using Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection on Windows and Mac machines. I use CloudConnect app to access the server from my iPad, and with Ericom's CloudRDP app, I can access the server from any Chrome browser, including a Chromebook.

I have had a great experience with Cloud9Realtime and I encourage you to check them out if you are looking for a cloud-based server solution.

Cloud9 RealTime | Application Hosting Cloud | Sage QuickBooks SaaS:

'via Blog this'

Chromebook for Accountants: Taking it To the Cloud!

2012-05-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

Does Google Chrome OS and the Chromebook work for accountants? It depends.

Since so many tax and accounting applications that I depend upon are Windows applications, I never saw myself as the Chromebook type. Lately, I've been reconsidering.

What changed? About a year ago, I moved all of my critical Windows applications and client data to a virtual server hosted by Cloud9Realtime.Com.

With all of my applications and data on the cloud, it really doesn't matter whether I access the server with a Windows computer, a Mac, or even a Chromebook. To access my Cloud9 server from the Chromebook, I use CloudRDP from Ericom. This is an HTML5 based RDP client that works great from Google Chrome or Chromium browser in any operating system. You can configure the app to use full screen or to fit in the browser window. You can even toggle between the two views, if you need to get information from email or another browser window.

One of the advantages of using the Chromebook to access my server is instant access. The Chromebook boots in about 8 seconds directly into the Chrome browser. A second advantage is security. Critical client data is not stored on my notebook if I have a senior moment and leave it somewhere or if it gets stolen. Plus, all my stuff is there when I log into a replacement Chromebook or even a Chrome browser on another computer.

Challenges include printing and using dual displays. CloudRDP includes a print driver that causes anything I print to show up as a separate browser window in the browser. From there I can either print using Google Cloud Print Services or save the document as a PDF. From within my server environment, I can print directly to Nitro PDF driver and save the output to my client directory or attach to an email. Dual displays are also a challenge because the Chromebook doesn't support extended desktop displays, only mirroring.

My experiment with a Chromebook has been short-lived but instructive. Chromebooks are small and portable with instant on and good battery life, perfect for when you are on the go. I can do many of the same things with my iPad using an RDP app, but the iPad doesn't support a mouse. Poking at icons on my screen inside the Windows server environment on the iPad can be frustrating for all but the briefest interactions whereas I can work for hours on the Chromebook.

CloudRDP works in your Chrome browser on any platform so you can check it out before you commit to going ChromeOS. You can also install Chromium (the open source foundation for Google's Chrome OS) on a USB stick and run it on many common notebooks or netbooks to try before you buy.

My Cloud9RealTime virtual server is the key to my mobile strategy and makes any computer or tablet capable of doing "real work." Don't listen to the haters. Consider whether Google Chromebooks may have a place in your firm's mobile IT strategy.

Sit No More

2012-03-05T21:06:00.000-06:00

I sit for a living. I'm damn good at it too. In fact, I'd put my sitting up against anybody on the planet. All day I sit. All day I sit and I work on the computer. All day I sit, work on the computer, preparing tax returns and tax projections and writing about taxes. Want my job? Didn't think so.

Today, I quit. I didn't quit working on tax stuff. I didn't quit working on the computer. I did quit sitting.

I read this article by Crackberry Kevin about his experience with a stand-up desk. Mashable says sitting all day is bad for you too in this article.

Kevin Tofel is a stand-up kind of guy to. See here

So is Brad Linder. Check it out

And now. So am I.

Crackberry Kevin has this amazing $3000 motorized standing desk. Mine is a $129 table from Home Goods that my wife spotted. There's just enough room for my phone, my MacBeast Pro and my scanner. I put it right in front of my office window so I can look out at the world while I stand all day.

So now my job is completely different. I stand. I stand all day. I stand all day working on the computer. I stand all day working on the computer, preparing tax returns and tax projections and writing about tax stuff. Ok it's not THAT different, but now I'm going to live longer, be healthier, see how the traffic is going outside, and maybe someday I'll still be able to get around and do fun stuff when I'm no longer working on taxes all day.

UPDATE: I've been standing nearly all day for over a week. I think I can do this. I'm still using the $129 table from Home Goods, but I've tweaked the setup a bit.

Vintage Mac Update: Doing the Wash

2011-12-11T15:11:00.001-06:00

The sound on my Mac Classic doesn't work and my hard drive is no longer recognized by the machine. I think the hard drive issue might be due to a loose ribbon cable connecting the drive to the motherboard. The sound issue is likely due to leaking capacitors on the mother board (see post on Leaky Caps).

Today, I had a little free time, so I decided to open up the Mac Classic and check out what was inside. My first challenge in doing so was that I didn't have a Torx T15 screwdriver that was long enough to loosen the screws in the top of the case inside the handle. Therefore, a trip to Sears was in order to buy the Craftsman 6" Torx screw driver part # 48171 for $6.99. My local Sears had the item in stock so I was in and out in a flash. (That's important to me because I hate going to the mall!).

I was scared to open the Mac Classic because it has an old-school CRT inside. CRT's potentially retain high voltage that might kill you. I encourage you to search this topic and be knowledgeable before you root around inside the Mac. Don't do it just because I did! After researching the subject, I rightly or wrongly concluded that I could remove the motherboard without killing myself.

Flickr photo credit: markltb

When I pulled the motherboard out of the Mac, it actually looked pretty clean. The PRAM battery was dead as I mentioned in a previous post. How did I know this? The clock doesn't remember the time and the Mac doesn't remember any settings. That's how you know. Fortunately, the battery (1/2 AA size) hadn't leaked or become corroded. Still, I pulled it out to be safe. I'll order another online if I can get the Mac working otherwise.

Several websites recommend that you remove all the old capacitors from the motherboard and replace them with new ones made from a different material that doesn't contain liquid. You can find several websites discussing this. Others have suggested that the Mac starts working again if you give the motherboard a good cleaning. Some people suggest putting the motherboard in an empty dishwasher (without detergent and without using the dry cycle). I didn't see my wife going for this, so I opted to immerse the board in some warm water with a little dish soap and used an old toothbrush to clean around the capacitors. I am now drying the board thoroughly before I put it back into the Mac. I dried it first with a paper towel, then used the blow dryer and now I have it propped up in front of a fan.

I'll report back on how it works!

Links: Washing memory board, Bringing a Zebra Motherboard Back to Life, Repairing a Macintosh SE/30 with No Sound

UPDATE: As much as I hoped my Mac Classic would start from the hard drive with a resounding beep, that didn't happen. In fact, there was no change. I get some sound when I plug a speaker into the 3.5 mm jack on the back of the Mac but nothing from the speaker itself. I can live without sound. It's not like the Mac Classic will run iTunes! But, swapping floppies is the reason hard drives were invented. I'm going to look for a replacement hard drive for the Mac Classic.

Here they are: your 2011 international Santas!

2011-12-07T21:35:00.001-06:00

Each year, dozens of Santas from around the globe gather on this piano to signal the start of another Christmas season. No one remembers exactly when this phenomenon began or why the sentimental Santas choose to gather on this particular piano, although some suggest that it is has something to do with the fact that this piano is rarely played.

As the Santas line up for their annual group photo, this year's line up features USA Santa, representing the host country for the annual event. Also featured this year are Italian Santa (because the piano owner is Italian), Irish Santa (because the lady of the house claims to be Irish), French Santa (because we once visited Paris), Greek Santa (because I'm worried the Greeks aren't having a very good Christmas), and Spain Santa (which is actually the three wise men - how cool is that!)

In addition to the featured Santas, there are several very interesting Santa interpretations. Several different means of transportation are used from boats to donkeys. Some are even women.

The global Santas wish everyone a Merry Christmas and peace and prosperity in the new year.

Vintage Mac: Leaky Caps

2011-11-26T14:56:00.001-06:00

Owning an old Mac is complicated. I was prepared for the software side of things. I was even prepared for hardware compromises and incompatibility in my quest to use a Mac Classic in 2011. What I hadn't considered is the physical deterioration of old electronics after 27 years. Now that I've had an opportunity to become acquainted with my Mac Classic, I'm discovering that things aren't working all that well.

One obstacle is that my hard drive is only recognized periodically. Whenever I first remove the Classic from its bag and boot it up, I get prompted to enter a floppy with a system disk. After the system boots from the floppy the hard disk still isn't recognized. Yet, after several restarts or passage of time (I'm not sure which) the hard drive suddenly reappears and tests out with no errors. I am not sure why I'm experiencing this behavior. It wasn't doing this when I first got the Classic. It started after I re-initialized the hard disk and installed System 6.0.8 instead of System 7.1 that it came with.

Another problem is that the PRAM battery is dead so it doesn't remember settings. I can buy a new battery so that's not a major problem. A third more serious issue is that I have no sound. I didn't even notice it at first and it wouldn't be that big of a deal except that it is a symptom of leaky capacitors on the motherboard. Some people suggest removing the leaky capacitors and replacing them. That process requires a steady hand and quite a bit of soldering. That's a skill I don't have. I never realized that these electronic components fail with age. Another potential solution to the problem is to wash the motherboard in the dishwasher! It sounds crazy but people say that washing the gunk from the leaky capacitors off the motherboard fixes sound and video problems the leaking causes. I'm hesitant to open up the Classic to remove the motherboard, however, because the CRT contains high voltage. It's just not worth it for me to get electrocuted so I can play with an old Mac. I'm just not confident that I know what I'm doing to risk it. I've already learned a lot from this process. A big lesson is that if you want to work with vintage computers you need to be comfortable taking them apart and soldering.

Printing on Vintage Mac

2011-11-19T14:32:00.001-06:00

I have a Mac Classic but I don't have a vintage printer. since word processing is what my Classic does best, I need a way to create output. One way of doing that is to save documents as RTF, transfer them on a Floppy to my MacBook Air and print them by launching Word on the Air. But, With some Googling, I found another way. On the Classic, I selected LaserWriter as my printer using Chooser control panel. Next, I print on the Classic using the normal print function for my Classic application. When the print dialogue pops up, choose print to postscript file. Next save the postscript file to a floppy. My Air can read from but not write to a diskette formatted on the Classic. I can copy the postscript file to my Air from the floppy. If I add an EPS extension to the postscript file, it will open with Preview when I double click on the file after an automatic conversion to a PDF. As the final step, I can either keep the output as a PDF or I can print it to any printer that is accessible to my Air. I realize not everyone will go to this much trouble just to use a vintage Mac, but I'm enjoying this trip down memory lane.

I Take on a Vintage Mac

2011-11-13T10:28:00.001-06:00

My New (to me) Mac

I've been thinking about getting a vintage Macintosh computer after starting to read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. I came to the Mac with the introduction of the colored iMacs. I bought my first Mac because I was moving my family to Canada for work, and my teen daughter wanted me to buy one of those cool green iMacs for her to use for school work. It was my first time to get hands-on with a Mac for any period of time though I worked at Peat Marwick which used Macs in its audit department. I liked that first mac so much, I decided to buy a blueberry iMac for me. From that moment, I was hooked! A steady stream of iBooks and Powerbooks followed. When I started my own CPA firm in 2005, I decided to go all Mac hardware, outfitting the office with iMacs and Mac Minis, even a Mac Mini server. Yet, I missed those first Macintoshes.

As I read the Steve Jobs biography, it dawned on me that I could probably find an inexpensive classic Mac on eBay for a nominal price. So, I started to check out the auctions in the vintage computing section of eBay. I guess I wasn't the only one who got energized about vintage Macs by reading the Jobs biography. Either the Macs were being sold for parts or working systems were being priced at hundreds of dollars as collectibles. I bid in several auctions only to have them get out of control in the waning seconds.

I was so close to buying an SE 30, the high point of the compact Mac line this morning. I had been sitting on a winning bid of $202.50 and my maximum bid was $261.50. With $35 shipping, I realized I was overpaying for computers that probably most often end up in garage sales or being dumped at Goodwill. But, I wanted it. The final price on that Mac, set in the last seconds was $355. The other auctions I've been watching for this particular model were "buy it now" listings at $349 and $499. No way I was paying that much!

On Facebook and Twitter, I posted messages asking if any of my friends had old Macs that they would consider selling me. After all, I belong to the Apple Corps of Dallas, the oldest MUG in the world. Surely, there were packrats among this group of Mac super fans. As luck would have it, the monthly meeting of the ACD was this morning. I haven't been to a meeting in probably a year, but the program by HP on their ePrint capabilities sounded interesting, and I thought I could make my plea at the meeting. To my surprise and undying appreciation, an ACD approached me at the meeting and said that he had seen my post on Facebook. He'd gone up to his attic, found his old Macintosh Classic, and brought it to the meeting. He gave it to me! Gave it! How awesome is that!

About the Mac Classic

According to lowendmac.com, the Mac Classic was the white Macbook of its day, the first Mac to be introduced for less than $1,000. Released in October 1990, the Classic in its most basic configuration came with an 8 MHz 68000 CPU, 1 MB RAM, a SuperDrive (1.44 MB Floppy to you and me), and a space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive. The upgraded Classic came with 2MB memory and a 40MB hard drive. My classic has the 40MB hard drive and was apparently upgraded to sport 4MB RAM. Keep in mind, I'm talking megabytes, not gigabytes of RAM and hard disk space. One feature that is unique about the Classic is that it contained a "secret" ROM based boot up to System 6.0.8 that can be accessed during startup by pressing Option-Command-X-O.

Lowendmac.com calls the Classic a "compromised Mac" because of its pokey 8 Mhz processor. The website applemuseum.bott.org notes that the case, processor and basic configuration of the Classic are the same as the original compact Mac models. The website calls the Classic a slightly faster Mac Plus with a different name. This Mac was introduced after the SE 30, the zenith of the compact macs. In contrast to the Classic, the SE 30 had a 16 Mhz processor and buss, based upon the upgraded 68030 Motorola chip. According to applemuseum.bott.org, Apple somewhat hastily issued the Classic in response to criticism that Macs cost too much (sound familiar?), but the public didn't like Apple's solution of cutting specs. As a result, the company discontinued the Classic a year later and replaced it with a more robust Classic II. Still, it was clear by this time that Apple and perhaps the public had lost enthusiasm for the compact Mac form factor. The Classic and Classic II were making way for the Performa line with separate color monitors and CPU consoles. The last of the Compact Macs would be positioned at the bottom of the Apple food chain.

My Classic is running System 7.1 operating system. According to MacTracker (an iPhone app that tells these things), the Classic originally shipped with either System 6.0.6 or 6.0.7. The Mac also contained Microsoft Works 3.0 (upon which I started typing this document), AOL (ack!) and another communication program called First Class (the ACD bulletin board used to run on that application as I recall). I promptly deleted AOL and First Class to free up drive space. Cosmetically, the Mac is in really nice condition and David included a keyboard and mouse. The Classic isn't the Mac I was planning to buy on eBay, but as a free Mac, I'm going to give it a go.

Setting up My Mac

Even though my Mac was in use before the Internet became popular, there are awesome online resources maintained by vintage Mac enthusiasts. Lowendmac.com is one such resource, with specs of old Macs, plus numerous articles about setting up and using vintage Macs of all types. Another website called System 6 Heaven (euronet.nl/users/mvdk/system_6_heaven.html) makes the case that Macs using the 6800 chip run much faster on System 6.0.8 than with system 7. An article on lowendmac.com ("Which System Software is Best for My Vintage Mac?") also suggested using System 6.0.8 on the Classic. Since my Classic was unbearably slow with System 7.1, I thought I would give System 6 a try, but how?

At this point, my main method of moving files on to and off the Classic are by 1.4MB floppy disks. The Classic doesn't have an Ethernet port or a wireless card. There are some ways to connect a Classic to a network but I don't have the appropriate hardware to implement such a connection at this time. I found some old forgotten floppies in a drawer and I have a USB floppy drive that I purchased long ago and stuffed into another drawer. My Classic has the 1.4MB "superdrive" (ha!) whereas the original Macs used 800K floppies that modern computers can't read. Unfortunately, my main computer is a MacBook Air with OS X 10.7 installed. If I initialize a floppy disk on the Classic, The Air will read it but can't write to it. Floppies that I initialize on the Air are apparently unreadable on the Classic (even if I choose FAT format). There went my master plan up in smoke! Thankfully, I still had a Titanium Powerbook G4 in the closet with OS 9.2 installed. Since the TiBook has wireless card, ethernet, and USB connections, I can move files to the TiBook from my Air and then swap floppies between the TiBook and the Classic. I'm starting to see why people either have no old Macs or a bunch of them. It apparently takes a village of vintage hardware to move files back and forth between the ages. It starts sounding like a "how many people does it take to change a light bulb" joke.

I found System 6.0.8 via a link posted on System 6 Heaven pointing to Apple.com, where apparently downloads of several different legacy versions of the Mac OS can be had for free. To install system 6.0.8, I had to download the .sit files from Apple and decompress them using the free Stuffit Expander. The .sit file contained disk image files for the various versions of System 6 install disks. On my TiBook, I could mount the floppy disk images using a utility called Disk Copy and copy the files from the mounted disk image to freshly formatted 1.4MB floppy disks. System 6.0.8 fits entirely on two such floppies. I was concerned that my floppies wouldn't be bootable on the Classic since I would need to start the Mac from the floppy to re-initialize the hard drive and install the older operating system. But, unlike Windows computers, creating a boot disk on a Mac doesn't require any special formatting or copy procedure. I put Disk 1 in my Classic and restarted it. I had to put my finger over the drive slot so that the Classic wouldn't eject the disk during startup. The utility to initialize the Classic's hard drive is included on the floppy. I ran that utility first and then clicked on the installer. I few minutes later, Iwas running System 6.0.8. The web site was right. System 6 is way faster on the Classic than 7.1.

The system installation wiped out the one piece of software that was installed on my Mac, Microsoft Works 3.0. So, I needed to find some applications to install on my Classic via the floppy disk shuffle. I found links to multiple applications on 68k.preterhuman.net. Right now, I'm using an early version of Clarisworks (which was later named Appleworks) instead of Microsoft Works.

What next?

I am enjoying using the Classic as a writing tool and as a tangible history lesson of early computing. I plan to do more tinkering to see if I can come up with a better way to exchange files between my Classic and other Macs. I don't recommend that anyone give up a modern computer for a vintage Mac. But, as a lesson about what was and what is now, getting hands-on with a working vintage Mac really makes the point better than reading a history book.

I dig my Scott Evest button-down shirt but...

2011-10-28T11:24:00.002-05:00

I ordered the really cool blueberry pinstripe button down shirt from Scott Evest and I really like it. I've worn it twice already and I plan to get more. The fit and finish is very professional. My only beef was the logo that is printed on the sleeve cuff, not something I like seeing on a dress shirt I'm wearing to a business meeting. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels that way. I got an email from the company saying that they were rethinking the branding on this piece.

I love the shirt and I'm sure it will be in heavy rotation, but there are a couple of nits. One, is that it may not make sense as travel clothing. It's one thing to have a jacket with a bunch of pockets when flying that I can put on the belt when I walk through TSA screening. It's another thing to have my shirt pockets loaded up with goodies. I can't exactly take off my shirt. Another thing is that while it's machine washable, it didn't come out of the dryer ready to wear. Even after ironing, it doesn't look like the shirts I typically wear to work. So, this week I took it to the cleaners. They say they'll have to treat it like a dry clean shirt because the extra pockets and such. So, there are some peculiarities to getting into the business wear market that differ a bit from the athletic and travel wear.

Still, I love the shirt, and I've become a Scott Evest junkie. Time to put on my essential travel jacket and get some lunch!

Dang! The Economy is Growing After All

2011-10-28T08:52:00.001-05:00

I'm catching up on my news this morning reading the paper edition of the Wall Street Journal. I'm a digital guy, but I still love to lean back in my office chair in the quiet of my office on a Friday morning and actually flip through the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

"Recession Fears Recede As Economy Grows 2.5%" is an article in the October 28, 2011 print edition. Authors Josh Mitchell and Sara Murray say that the economic growth is quick enough to blunt fears that the US is about to plunge into recession again but not fast enough to signal that that halting recovery is about to get on a roll. The authors quote Justin Wolfers, an economist at the Wharton School, "If the economy grew at this rate forever, the unemployment rate wouldn't fall." So 2.5% better but still not good enough.

Consumers are spending but not saving, an unsustainable situation (but hardly anything new). Companies are more willing to spend on equipment than on people. Yet, isn't that what Congress is promoting with tax incentives? You get to write off 100% of new equipment, but there's no comparable tax benefit for investing in new jobs [my comment not the authors].

As year-end approaches, consider the future of your small business. Tax incentives favor buying new equipment or spending on starting up a new business this year over next. Consumers are spending money, so position your business to capture some of that spend. Be bold in promoting your brand and position your business to be a winner as the economy rebounds. Hire somebody if you can, even if only part time or contract. Get that stuff done that you've been putting off. Let's get this economy moving in the right direction (up) again.

And have a great day!

$3 Free Cats

2011-09-25T15:47:00.003-05:00

I had a chance to sit down with GarageBand this morning and create an arrangement for my original song, "$3 Free Cats". As the song says, I saw this sign out in front of a vet's office near my house for several weeks and it always made me laugh that they were charging $3 for "free cats". I created the song first in Band in a Box and then exported the song as MIDI to GarageBand. In GarageBand, I saved only the drums and organ. I recorded my own bass, guitar, vocals, and backup vocals. This is about as close as my skills will allow me to get to the song I heard in my head. I hope you enjoy and share with a friend!

Here's the YouTube link

Taking a Brake

2011-09-16T09:18:00.001-05:00

That's right. A brake. Today, I'm taking a day off from taxes and accounting and enjoying the lake with my bride. We enjoyed a long walk among the pines with cool crisp weather. The ground was still damp from the half inch of rain that fell last night, a much needed respite from the prolonged drought that has plagued this area. It feels like 100 degree days are behind us. I sure hope more rain is in our future. Enjoy your weekend. Like my other CPA friends, I'll be gearing up for that final push that is the 10/17 deadline.