I guess I should clarify. In addition to "just the W2" there's also a monthly, quarterly, or yearly payroll tax report that goes to the IRS, along with a whopping large check for the withholding, as part of normal payroll processing. Different companies do different reporting standards, of course. But they're getting the data a lot more often than you think, just from the money paid in *during* the year, before the return is filed for.

#2 is already happening, that's what the Internal Revenue Service *does*.

50% revision from a survey is not consistent or predictable.

But we do know the answers- just use the information reported to the IRS from every employer doing business in the United States instead.

Maybe we shouldn't need to report the same data to multiple agencies? Estimated taxes, 1099s, and W2 information is already available from the IRS. You don't need to "survey" anybody, you can get down to the penny reads on the entire economy.

There's a rule: secrecy in negotiations always benefit the few.

The reason is that if you're a negotiator representing few people (such as say a CEO or a board of directors) then secrecy won't stop you from keeping your bosses informed about what you and your fellow negotiators are doing. You can't sell out your bosses, they'll find out through the other negotiators. You're on a tight leash.

But if you represent a large group of people, such as the rank and file members of a union, or the public at large, then secrecy prevents you from keeping them in the loop. If you're offered a deal which benefits you but screws over the people you represent, secrecy ensures you can safely take it.

Curse slashdot and their lack of editing functionality. I meant of course to GDPR their ass.

Spotify honors our users' privacy rights, including the right of portability

You do now, all right. But I had to DMCA your ass to make you implement data takeout, after being told (after waiting for a year and more) that giving users access to their own listening history was "not a priority".

I imagine that the first question after installing Linux would be "Now how do I sync albums that I bought on the band's Bandcamp page onto my iPhone?" As far as I'm aware:

- iTunes for Windows uses the Apple Mobile Device Service driver to sync over a USB cable, and drivers don't run in Wine.
- libimobiledevice on Linux can write files to an iPhone but not the music database that the included Music app uses.
- Though the VLC app can play music from files, nothing but the included Music app can make playlists containing both purchased music and rented music from the roommate's Apple Music family plan. Not all bands are with a label that's on Apple Music.

I left Windows on her laptop and turned off S Mode.

Many new computers with Windows 11, such as a Lenovo IdeaPad that my roommate received as a birthday gift, come set to "S Mode" and will not run applications from outside the Store. There is a way to disable S Mode permanently on a particular PC. This shows a sequence of alert boxes whose wording may be scary to particularly nontechnical users such as my roommate.

In my part of the United States, both Kroger and Dollar Tree impose a surcharge for cash back on a debit transaction. Walmart still does not.

Mediterranean resorts do quite well, as I remember

Is there some racist reason in South Carolina that poor people can't move to Appalachia on the other side of the fall line?

Or, gasp, abandoning non-viable coastal cities.

Wouldn't it be better to relocate the people rather than build the sea wall, and just depopulate Charleston which is no longer viable as a city?