Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Intuit gets greedy, nearly doubles price of TurboTax (networkworld.com)

colinneagle writes: In the 2014 Deluxe edition ($59.99), which was always sufficient to do self-employment taxes, Intuit has removed Schedule C, D, and E, which self-employed people use. The full Schedule C is now only available in the Home & Business version, which runs $99.99, while Schedule E and the complete Schedule D, which has importation brokerage data, are now only available in their Premier edition or higher ($89.99). If you have Deluxe, like me, you will get prompted to make a purchase of an additional $30 to $40.

Needless to say, Intuit is getting skinned alive on Amazon. As of this writing, Turbo Tax 2014 has 852 one-star ratings on Amazon and just 81 five-star ratings, and TurboTax has been far and away the most popular home tax prep software on the market for years.

H&R Block, which has always run a distant second to TurboTax, smells blood in the water and is offering a free copy of its tax prep software, federal and state, to the many furious TurboTax users. There isn't a site for this, you have to email H&R Block at SwitchToBlock@hrblock.com and include your name, address, and phone number, operating system and a photo, scan, or email showing proof of TurboTax Basic or Deluxe purchase. Once approved, H&R Block will then send a link for one free download of H&R Block Deluxe + State tax software. You can even import last year’s tax return from TurboTax into the H&R Block tax software.

Submission + - FBI says search warrants not needed to use "stingrays" in public places (arstechnica.com)

schwit1 writes: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking the position that court warrants are not required when deploying cell-site simulators in public places. Nicknamed "stingrays," the devices are decoy cell towers that capture locations and identities of mobile phone users and can intercept calls and texts.

The FBI made its position known during private briefings with staff members of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). In response, the two lawmakers wrote Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson, maintaining they were "concerned about whether the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have adequately considered the privacy interests" of Americans.

According to the letter, which was released last week:

For example, we understand that the FBI’s new policy requires FBI agents to obtain a search warrant whenever a cell-site simulator is used as part of a FBI investigation or operation, unless one of several exceptions apply, including (among others): (1) cases that pose an imminent danger to public safety, (2) cases that involve a fugitive, or (3) cases in which the technology is used in public places or other locations at which the FBI deems there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.


Comment Re:News at 11.. (Score 4, Insightful) 719

A math genius using math to swindle people is still a math genius.

And would be referred to as a swindler, not primarily as a math genius.

A soldier using his training to murder people still have military training.

And would be referred to as a murderer, not primarily as a soldier.

If you asked members of the general public what a hacker is, you are most likely to get the definition of a cracker.

Comment Re:News at 11.. (Score 3, Informative) 719

While you can find the following on Wikipedia, the first definition from the world of computer security is somewhat of a late comer. Hacker culture was well established before before the term began to be used for the ilk who break things. The term Cracker is much more descriptive, draws a distinction between the two but, just never seemed to catch the ear of the media darlings the put on the news.

Comment Beyond 404 HiJacking (Score 2) 388

It's bad enough that companies like Verizon, in a effort to help us and provide better service, hijack 404 errors and redirect them to their tailored search results, now this. In light of how little vetting some of these take down notices seem to receive before the ban hammer falls, this is truly scary. Scary in that they think this is how to go about business. Like others have already alluded too, this is likely to at worst cause a minor bit of annoyance before a way to protect against this silliness is found.

Comment Growing Isolation (Score 1, Interesting) 157

I find this rather disturbing in light of Russia's Growing Isolation. I'm left to wonder if Russia is 'just being Russia' or if these laws are being passed with the intent of gently nudging companies like Google and Adobe out of the country. Russia's recent actions in Ukraine have left me with a very Hitleresk taste.

Comment Re:good (Score 1) 341

Well this comes to mind:

You can judge the morality of a nation by the way the society treats its animals.
-Mahatma Gandhi

Does it really matter why, some thinks this is important. It the one before us at the moment. I'd give it less weight than say the kidnappings and atrocities that are occurring in various parts of the world right now but, that's not what the OP was in reference to. While I believe granting "person-hood" to a non-human is not the right answer (look at how well making businesses persons has served us), I do believe that animals in general should be treated much better than they often are and penalties for improper (inhumane) treatment should be much more severe. Then again, I watch a lot of Criminal Minds and know that torture and killing of small animals is a gateway to serial killing.

Comment Re:Good For Him (Score 1) 74

Gotta give him thumbs up for enthusiasm. One can always hope, he has a few BOFH advisers to scope the project and give it a reality check. I get the concerns about the scale of this type of project but, I do occasionally wish someone would force us to get rid of a couple legacy systems I have to deal with and am forced to find creative and often insecure ways to keep them up and running.

Granted "cloud-based" gives me the heebee jeebees. Whose cloud?

Comment Re:8 disintegrations/sec per cubic meter. Nothing. (Score 1) 114

Maybe it's a slow news cycle . . .

In terms of reporting a danger, you may well have a point but, you can also look at it in terms of reporting that once it crosses the ocean the radiation is at a very low level and does not present a threat . . . In which case you may still have a point. Well at least now we have a benchmark for how long it takes radiation to get to the U.S. from Japan, might come in handy someday.

Slashdot Top Deals

Today is a good day for information-gathering. Read someone else's mail file.

Working...