Comment Re:Missing the point (Score 2) 210
I can see the subscription model for windows up by 2020 - time to get out now.
I can see the subscription model for windows up by 2020 - time to get out now.
I'm working on a payroll globalization project for Very Large Company. One reason employees want the option of cheques is to receive bonus/special payouts that they don't have to disclose to their significant other.
Cheques will be around for some years to come. Many of us will live to see their eventual elimination on 'security' grounds, though.
At least for a state gas tax. You can't read the odometer and determine what percent of your driving day was in Oregon versus Washington state. Therefore a mileage tax wouldn't work.
They've been pushing for this in Oregon for a while now. As I understand it, the GPS unit isn't a black box, and a lot of time has been put into privacy concerns. I think one solution had it being read at the pump, and then immediately deleting its contents after being read. Very limited range transmission, it only recorded miles/location, and the location was just 'oregon' or 'not oregon'.
However, for a Federal gas tax, I have no idea why'd they'd want to implement GPS. Odometer reading would work just fine. Just have a tax applied to your tag renewal each year based on miles driven.
Either way, I hope they still have some differences in tax amounts based on vehicle size and weight. I shouldn't have to pay as much as a Semi Truck.
If all they want is the tax money, they only need to increase taxes on fuel.
But that would mean SUVs would pay more per unit distance than small cars or hybrids. This would promote energy efficiency, which would make the oil companies mad.
This is what we do for sales tax, and it seems to work just fine -- there are many cases where sales tax might not apply, and it's up to the purchaser to have the appropriate paperwork to avoid being charged. There are methods both to certify and exemption in an attempt to avoid being charged, and to obtain a refund in the case that tax was improperly collected.
It's also more or less the same system we have for income tax; the IRS assumes that all of your income is subject to taxation unless you provide specific evidence to the contrary.
I'm not saying it would be fun, but it's a pretty standard way to collect taxes -- assume everything is taxable and let individual taxpayers try to justify the reason that some of their activities should not be taxable.
Not to complain in any case; as a Mass. native, every day out here is a joy, weatherwise.
I believe what they are asking for would be equivalent to Draft mode in Word 2007. I think it used to be called something else in previous versions. It's basically a text editor view instead of the simulated page view which shows margins and whatnot.
I can hardly imagine why the lack of such a feature is a "deal breaker."
"Just think, with VLSI we can have 100 ENIACS on a chip!" -- Alan Perlis