ie8 fix

expense

New Mac Minis: Still too expensive

First off, an admission: I've always wanted a Mac Mini. Sort of like I've always wanted a Mini Cooper convertible. But then I take a look at the price tag and it always seems too expensive. Call me cheap, but when you're at $600 (for the entry-level Mini) you start to ask yourself: what can I get for a few hundred bucks more--aside from the step-up $799 Mac Mini?

The answer is always a laptop. Now, the Mac Mini, of course, is basically a laptop without the screen. It uses laptop components. This new base system features … Read more

Head Porter showcases fall iPhone cases

Tokyo-based fashion designers Head Porter come prepared for the holiday season with a new collection of cases designed to fit both the original iPhone and the 3G. With a long history of catering to the fashion-forward tech consumer, Head Porter offers stylish cases for cell phones and mp3 players. This fall's iPhone collection sees the marriage between a new case form and classic Head Porter visuals, including "Black Beauty," "Monogram Black Beauty," "Dot Black Beauty," "Master Navy," "Navy Argyle," "Python," "Savanna," and "Zebra." … Read more

Are you a perpetrator of workplace printer abuse?

According to a new survey released today, about 60 percent of the Canadian workforce is making personal use of their office printer.

The survey, conducted by Angus Reid Strategies for Samsung Electronics revealed that a large majority of Canadians who work in offices with high volume laser printers aren't using them for memos and work-related e-mails, but rather for personal letters, color photos, and even *gasp* resumes! The study breaks down the percentage of people that print out random documents:

I think it's safe to assume that the reason for all this work-printer abuse is because of the … Read more

Neat Receipts now Mac happy

Boasting a new white finish, slightly sleeker design, and software that runs on a Mac, Neat Receipts for Mac Advance Release offers similar expense-report scanning, organizing, and documenting capabilities as the Windows version. The version is similar, but not identical--thus, the moniker "Advance Release."

The current Windows version of the product, Version 3, includes "features such as...a business card and tax module and exporting to financial software" that the Mac version lacks, but, according to the company, the Mac version has capabilities, including drag-and-drop and rules-based collections, that the Windows version does not. When the … Read more

Expense View (iPhone app)

With all the bills and expenses of daily life, most of us need to follow some sort of budget. With Expense View for the iPhone, you can post your expenses as they happen and then track and analyze your money on the ExpenseView.com Web site. You'll need to register to use this application, but fortunately it won't affect your budget: It's free.

iPhone Link: http://www.expenseview.com/gadgetLogin.aspx

Web site link: http://www.expenseview.com

IBM settles with SEC over options probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday it reached a settlement with IBM, over allegations the industry titan issued misleading statements regarding stock options expenses.

The end result: IBM, without admitting or denying the commission's findings, consented to an order that it cease and desist from "committing or causing violations of these provisions." But more importantly, IBM paid no fine, nor faced any monetary penalty.

What was the beef?

Back in April 2005, IBM said during a conference call with analysts it would begin reporting its stock options as an expense, starting with the first quarter 2005. … Read more

Toshiba laptops will soon write to HD

In the maddening crush of gadgets and humanity that is CES, we walked right past the Qosmio sitting in Toshiba's booth--after all, we'd seen that laptop before, and R2-D2 was in the house. But there was something different about that Qosmio; Toshiba was using it to show off its laptop-size HD-DVD-R optical drive, which reportedly will let users burn as much as 30GB of data on a single HD-DVD disc. The company's been mum on other key deets, such as release date and price, though they have promised more info by the end of this quarter. If … Read more

Swanky speakers deserve better than Johnnie Walker Red Label

A bunch of the blogs (Gizmodo, BornRich) have been featuring the Aussie audio company VAF's latest endeavor, which looks like a piece of wall decor out of a Design Within Reach catalog but is actually a very impressive set of speakers. Each side is about two feet long, and they protrude barely five inches from the wall. When they're released in March, they will apparently come in a variety of colors. Neat, huh?

But I've got a bone to pick with VAF's presentation of their cool new product. I mean, come on. We're sharp-eyed here … Read more

Deduct your driving expenses with BizMileTracker

I heard the pitch for BizMileTracker at the New Tech Meetup last night. This service collects your car trip data so you can later deduct the expenses from your taxes. It sure beats keeping an odometer log in the car. Just identify your starting and ending points, and the application calculates your mileage.

You can set up repeating trips, which is handy. You can also see how much of a deduction you can claim for each trip, depending on which purpose you assign (business expenses are more deductible than medical trips, for example). The service is especially useful if you … Read more

Solar Webcam's price out of orbit

Solar power may be making great strides in mainstream usage, but energy efficiency doesn't necessarily translate to fiscal conservation. The "Ultimate Outdoor Webcam" by DigitalXtractions, for example, runs on the sun's rays but costs $450 plus another $150 or $250 for a solar panel, according to The Raw Feed. But here's the kicker: Not only do you have to pay those exorbitant prices up front, but you also must shell out $60 a year for a "data subscription" that includes Web hosting. We think we'll keep a USB port open for the &… Read more