- Debating doing a quick "Favorites of 2008" post- tech toy, website, software, movie, band. 3 hrs ago
- More updates...
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| Blog: |
| Revenge of the Nerd |
Topics: |
| tech, nerd, personal |
TheJoey.Net is the weblog of Joe Casabona, a web developer who attends the University of Scranton, now for Graduate Studies. He is real bad at writing these about pages and hates writing in the 3rd person...more
**The layout is new and there might be some bugs. If you see any, please email me at Joe@Casabona.org
When she wrote, “Dear Mr. President” it pissed me off mainly because she didn’t make a single good point. Now she has a new song out called, “Sober,” where she sings, “How do I feel this good sober.” Oh Pink. You’re so deep. And no one will take your lyrics the wrong way. Good thing her target audience isn’t the 13-17 crowd.
I am very excited to announce that yesterday I launched a new blog, called Freelancing the Net. It’s a blog I decided to start that chronicles my journey to becoming a freelancer.
I know that can come off as a little conceded; I will be the first to admit that while I am proud of what I have done thus far, I wouldn’t consider myself extremely successful. I do, however, have a fairly unique view. I started freelancing in high school and continued through college. I went through a lot of things in forming a business earlier than a lot of people. Plus, a lot of people to ask me questions, just as I had a lot when I was starting.
I want this site to be a unique resource for people. There are lots of sites out there (most notably FreelanceSwitch) that provide advice and resources for freelancers. But this site is my first hand account of what I went through and continue to go through. I hope you like it! As always, any feedback is appreciated.
That is one of my favorite quotes (and not just because it’s in Star Wars, or Yoda said it). It has a lot of meaning to me. And this quote, I suppose, is the theme of my Year in Review post. In the past I’ve said, “This is a benchmark year, blah blah blah,” and then listed things of note that happened to me that year. 2007 was particularly good. But 2008 I feel, was a year of almosts.
I almost signed that big client or launched that project. I almost got an A, I almost met that goal, I almost said what I really wanted to say. This really goes against the quote that is the thesis of this post, and one I’ve been trying to live by since high school. To me, almost is trying and failing. So for 2009, I’m going to do or do not. I’ve set a business plan for my business and it will be a good year. I just need to follow through instead of just thinking about it or saying I’m too busy. I’ve also set some personal goals for myself, which I will also follow through with.
So I guess the quote is also my New Year’s resolution. Here’s to 2009. I want to leave you with another 2008 Year in Review post I just read over at SimpleBits. It’s very pithy, to the point, and also holds true for me.
It’s not quite that time of the year, though this week (or at least part it) I will be fixing my books up to submit to my accountant. December 31st marks the end of the first official fiscal year for my business. That means I’ll be going over what I have documented, checking my receipts, and finding last minute expenses and write-offs to lower my bottom line and try to reduce the magic number I’m going to owe Uncle Sam. One thing I hadn’t realized until late in the year was that mileage on your car is a write off.
Since I did find that out, I’ve been keeping a notebook of everywhere I drive and the mileage it took to get there and back. But to backtrack and make sure I’m including all of my meetings, trips to the bank and stores, etc., Google came to the rescue. I looked over Google Calendar to check for meetings I attended and then put the addresses in Google Maps to get a approximate mileage to document. I also looked at bank slips for dates I took those trips, and dates on old receipts to document trips to the store. Turns out I will have a nice little deduction now.
This helpful tip also helped me to start thinking of other things I might not think of as write offs. Remember, anything that you use for your business can be considered tax deductible- mileage and gas, tolls you might pay, cell phone, books, etc. If you’re thinking about starting a business, or just starting, it’s definitely worth talking to an accountant to get you on track.
PS- Soon I’mstarting a new blog called, “Freelancing the Net.” I’ll be talking about how I got my start and providing helpful tips and resources for freelancers just starting out, so keep a look out for that in early 2009!
When my mother told me about the NYS Obesity Tax proposed by Gov. Paterson, I actually didn’t believe it; but as it turns out, it’s true. This is a horrible, horrible idea for several reasons.
First of all, I like how NY is becoming a nanny state. “We know what’s best for you, and we will impose laws to follow that mantra.” Earlier this year restaurants in NYC were banned from using trans-fats in foods. Now, higher taxes for supposedly less healthy beverages. Last time I checked, people we more or less free to do what they want. That means if they aren’t hurting anyone, they can make themselves as fat as they damn well please. Of course other groups are happy because this may reduce child obesity, but that should be for the parents to decide. Oh, and it’s not going to reduce child obesity. You know what will? Exercise.
Second, it seems reasonable that at a time where there is less money to go around, people are trying to spend less, and save more, that a tax hike is in order. Why not raise costs for the folks, which will likely hinder business for soda companies. Brilliant!
But this is because the state has a deficit! So what will we do with that new found money? Raise welfare payments 30% and make it easier to get medicaid (source). Perfect. Expand government programs that we know are abused by people. Does the governor really think this tax will get us out of the deficit and help expand these programs? Because the way I see it, this will do nothing but hurt the economy. Maybe Gov. Paterson should stop complaining about SNL and focus on what really matters. If he wants to get us out of a deficit, he should cut spending, and not introduce ridiculous taxes that will hurt New Yorkers and NY based businesses.
Update: So apparently he wants to tax everything AND cut spending for schools. At least with Spitzer, he was only screwing a prostitute.
