Tech Tax Time - Its Tax Time Again. Part 1

Well its that time again...wow!!!!!! has it been a year.....It seams like we just submitted our tax returns for 2007 - 2008....

So how was 2008 - 2009 for you?

Did you earn more or less? Did you spend more or less? Do you know how you spent and how you earned?

Although to most of us tax is as exciting as watching paint dry!!!!

Its is here to stay..I mean thanks to taxes and optical fibre technology,

we are getting a high speed broadband service around Australia.... so lets work with it and get the most we can out of the situation...

There are some great technical tools to help us throughout the year, to make tax time easier and help us keep an eye on our finances.

Lets start with what we can do throughout the year personally.

There are a lot of software packages and online tools that can help us budget, plan and spend our money a lot smarter.

I was always a fan of Microsoft Money but unfortunately Microsoft have stop producing this software package.

So I did some research. I checked out a few software packages, websites and banks...I decided not to review the websites and banks as these facilities although readily available and economical leave all your finance details in the 1 basket and as you get to know me you will find that I am not a fan of the whole all eggs in 1 basket routine.

So out of all the software packages I believe Quicken Personal 2009 was the better choice: It has...and I quote "All the necessary tools to manage finances, prepare for tax time and plan for the future. Personal is for those who want to play an active role in the management of their personal finances". (From http://home.quicken.com.au).....

Now the non salesman explanation!!!!!!

Quicken Personal 2009 was reasonably price at a RRP of $95.00. It was easy to install and setup...It does take a little time to get used too working out where to put your information but you will quickly get up to speed. Before you know it you will be incontrol and completely aware of your financial situation, budget, bank balances and tax time.

Even though we have busy lives we should take the time to keep a check on our finances through out the year. You will be amazed to see where, what and how much we spend!!!!!

For those who have Vista there are now gadgets within Quicken that tells us vital information on our desktop...without having to keep Quicken open.

So checkout Quicken Personal 2009 at http://home.quicken.com.au/Pages/Product.aspx?catid=7 its well worth downloading and checking out the trial version.

In part 2 of Tech Tax Time we will discuss lodging our tax online.

Remember to always have Fun!!!!

The Technologist

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Like most people i to was saddened by the passing of Michael Jackson on the 25th June 2009.

Michael Jackson was one of the first performers / artists that influence my love of music. I remember in 1983 watching the premier of his music video "Thriller". It was like nothing I had ever watched before. The dancing, the music, the brilliance and the suspense....This would be the start of a journey that I and many others took watching and listening musical and entertainment.....perfection.

Yes Michael Jackson was eccentric, strange and very misunderstood by all... But Michael Jackson was an artist whose greatest critic was himself. He strived for perfection and always pushed himself to the next level.

He loved his fans as much as they loved him.
All credible reports are that he loved his kids and put them first. Even trying to keep them shelted from the intense media spotlight.

It seams sad / unfair that on the eve of Michael Jackson's comeback tour he dies, It would of been his chance to face up to his critics, to show everyone the King of Pop will not be forgotten........but all things happen for a reason.

From a technical point of view Michael Jackson was an innovater, he would have a vision...the vision and dream of being the biggest, the best, the most spectactical and always...... perfect.

Whether it was a Pepsi commercial, music video or concert Michael Jackson always used the latest technology...

I remember watching the music video for "Black or White". It was reported that millions were spent on using the latest in CGI (computer generated imaging) to transfer between the different shots of each nationality....A brilliant mind and amazing and talented entertainer / visionary.

Michael Jackson had hits spanning 5 decades, he entertained many people across many generations. He was loved by people of all ages and all nationalities.

I sadly never had the privilege of seeing Michael in concert and unfortunately never will...But Michael Jackson definitely had an influence In my life, He made my world a better place through his music and I will surely miss Michael Jackson's living energy in our world.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) - Entertainer, musician, artist and......perfectionist

Emails to large? Remove the blockage!!!

I received a call today from a great friend, Donny (http://www.galella.com/). He was getting a little frustrated with large emails blocking the proverbial email pipeline.




He also mentioned that he needs to receive large emails on occasion so completely blocking large emails would not be a desirable option.

My suggestion to stop this happening is to only download the "header" of an email that is more than a preselected size e.g. 1Mb. You will then have the option to delete the email or download the email at a later date....When the email pipeline isn't so popular....Here is a short video to show you how to adjust the settings

Netbooks

It was a couple of years ago when I first heard the name "Netbooks". I was very curious so I investigated it further.

I discovered that a netbook is a devise that is somewhere in between a laptop and PDA in size but Carry's a full version of windows, adequate hard drive space to store a substantial amount of documents, pictures and video files.

I have to admit at first I didn't think they would be as popular as they are turning out to be.

I recently took the plunge and shelled out just under $600.00 for a middle of the range Netbook. Since purchasing my netbook I have discovered the netbook has many convenient uses.

For me the Netbook doubles as a digital picture frame, quick Internet searches, facebook and twitter updates.

Because i use my netbook instead of my main home PC and laptop i find they run more efficiently and my data is more secure.

I would strongly recommend you check out this new technology it just maybe what you are looking for.

Facebook usernames

Hi Guys,

Not sure if you realise but there has been a message at the top of your facebook page for a couple of days now talking about user names.

Its very important that as soon as possible after 2pm tommorrow (Saturday 13th June) You log onto facebook using this link http://www.facebook.com/username/ and apply for your user name,

this will work similar to a webpage but with a facebook prefix. ie: www.facebook.com/quentinfield.

This is the first time facebook has moved in the direction of having a unique user names. Any Questions i will try to answer just message me.

have a great weekend

Quentin

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Well another year rolls by, what a great time has been had with friends and family; Just a short entry today to say thankyou for all the best wishes I have recieved today. I truely love and appreciate every moment I have, I love to think back to all the great times we have had over the last 12 months. I thank The Universe for providing me with such great friends and family.

Lots of love to all

The First Tip!!!

With a couple of fun blogs down...lets talk about something serious, This subject I will raise alot during our time together. But I have just had a little scare myself and it has reminded me to go back to basics. I recently pulled out my 1 terabite portable hard drive (for the technophobes I can store about 300,000 digital photos on this baby).

I connected it to my PC...nothing no response, tried it on another computer....nothing...it was corrupt. This confussed me because I religously keep my anti virus up to date, never open spam, I dont even forward on jokes because I believe it is a way viruses are spread... I am currently in the process I am currently in the process of recovering my drive. I will let you knowhow it goes, But here are some tips in avoiding data loss.

• When you buy a USB jump drive or portable hard drive......Buy 2 of the same size and keep them both up to date with your important files. Keep one with you and leave one in a safe place.
• Backup..Backup..Backup..Backup...and keep the backup in a safe place( I will cover more on backup in future blogs).
• Always check the backup files regularly (this is what I didnt do bugger...)

I am currently organising to backup my data in either a data centre (purpose built for keeping data safe) or at a mates place we will keep storage at each others place link via a computer network (if successful the designs will be in a future blogg). This setup will ensure his data has a backup in a secure place away from his office and visa versa.

When was your first!!!

Its hard to remember the very first connection with 'modern' technology, If I had to choose it would have been a Betamax video recorder closley followed by a Microbee computer. We had a friend that would bring his heavy, oversized and "clunky" Betamax Video Recorder, I am not sure weather we were amazed and excited about watching movies on demand and rented from a video store or the amazing machine that allowed us to watch the video. Think of the various ways now we can watch a movie, DVD, Harddrives, internet TV...... You have to thank the amazing people who develop such technology.

Retro Tech will be a regular discussion point on my blog....cant wait to think back to what amazed us in our early days...

Australia....Enjoy your long weekend...

Who is Quentin Field

I thought it appropriate to start my "blogging" with a little intro. I am sure most people would ask who is Quentin Field, keep in mind we will be getting to know each other through conversations, emails or in any way we can. Here is some background:

I was born in June 1975 to a wonderful mother and father, I was the youngest of 5 kids (this is the meaning of my name "the fifth child").

From a yound age I have loved and been facinated by 2 things, People and Technology. I enjoy talking to people of all walks of life, I especially love talking to people with passion, doing or being what they love.

I have a very good friend who has coined the phrase "to be is to love"....such true words. Of recent years I have tried to develop my abilities to communicate, learne more about people and be grateful for what we have in our lives.

I remember playing Astroides on a mates Atari video game, being amazed at the graphics.....

I even remember playing pong and thinking how does the TV know where the ball is.

It seams such a long way from todays Wii consoles.

Its great to combined social interaction with fun technology like playing games consoles.

Regular Blogs

Hey All,
Thank you for stopping by. I will be starting my regular blogs from June 1st 2009. If you have any questions send them through and I will answer as many as I can.
Quentin