Mediaboss Marketing

By Kay Bell, Bankrate.com

Taxpayers who want to take advantage of the Internal Revenue Service's free tax preparation e-filing program won't have to wait. The Free File program opens to taxpayers on Jan. 17, two weeks before the IRS starts processing 2013 tax returns.

The IRS will not start processing any tax returns until Jan. 31. The government shutdown in October 2013 slowed IRS updates of forms and tests of its computer systems, leading officials to push the official opening of this year's filing season to the end of the month.

But that doesn't mean taxpayers have to sit around. Free File companies will hold taxpayers' completed tax returns and then submit them on Jan. 31.

The early opening of Free File is good news for millions of eligible taxpayers. They are among the group of electronic filers, which increases every year, primarily because they can get their refunds more quickly.

And for the 2014 filing season, a few more taxpayers should be able to use the Free File option. The income eligibility limit has been increased to $58,000. That's $1,000 more than last year.

Free File 2014 basics

You can file your 2013 tax return through Free File if your adjusted gross income is $58,000 or less.

The income cutoff applies regardless of your filing status.

Free File is for individual, not business, tax returns. However, a sole proprietor who files Schedule C with Form 1040 can use Free File.

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Free tax e-filing program

The free download for CrashPlan is a tarball archive. Uncompressing the package creates a folder with several text files explaining the process of installing the software. This method frees the user from having to select a version matching a particular Linux distro, but it also makes the product less accessible to inexperienced Linux users, who might abhor the command line and the terminal window.

CrashPlan is an automated backup system that does the job, but it's not without its pitfalls.

The software offers a cross-platform backup solution that's reliably easy to use once you configure the software. Installing it to your Linux system, however, is anything but user-friendly. More than a few Linux users will emerge looking for a less-finicky solution.

In addition, while the developer, Code 42, appears to adhere to the open source philosophy, you will face a big challenge if you try to locate the source code.

So, if you are an open source purist as a Linux user, using the no-cost local or free off-site storage plans could be worth sidestepping your views about such code purity. You can also meet more demanding backup needs with the company's paid Pro versions of the software.

CrashPlan automates the backup process. It monitors the files and folders you designate for backing up to your chosen location. You can select a manual backup or an incremental or fully automated backup schedule.

You can download free versions of CrashPlan for Mac OS X, Windows, OpenSolaris and Solaris in addition to the Linux OS. CrashPlan has a wide cross-platform reach. It also is available for mobile devices running the iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms.

For Linux users, however, CrashPlan is relatively distro-unaware. That means you have to install it manually through terminal commands and execute the provided installation scripts.

I found CrashPlan to be an exercise in futility when first installing and configuring it. It's possible some of the difficulties I encountered may not occur in other platform variations, but since my primary focus was reviewing the Linux version, I did not test those other options.

Continue reading here:
CrashPlan: A Good - but Not Perfect - Linux Backup Plan

With Nuance's voice print technology onboard, ZTE's Car Mode app will be able to recognize who is speaking and what he or she wants without the driver lifting a finger.

Phone manufacturer ZTE and Nuance Communications, provider of a wide range of voice recognition software, are teaming up at CES 2014 to announce an updated and enhanced Car Mode application for ZTE's Android devices.

The ZTE Car Mode app will provide an eye-free, hands-free way to interact with these phones on the go. Nuance is providing new voice biometrics tech for the screen unlock, enabling the hardware to recognize a voice command from a specific person's voiceprint to activate and access different functions and modes without physical contact.

For example, as part of a new feature called Music Barge-In, a driver listening to music could say, "Play next song," or "Pause," and the ZTE Android device would recognize that it is, in fact, the driver talking and then execute the command.

I get very annoyed when passengers won't stop talking while I'm issuing a voice command to a smartphone or navigation system; it confuses most simple systems. If Nuance's voice print and biometrics technology can help these devices to differentiate my commands from those of my mouthy passengers, it will be a welcome addition to the cockpit.

Additionally, Nuance's Natural Language Understanding (NLU) tech makes an appearance, allowing the driver to speak to the system with natural questions and commands, rather than memorizing and following a list of expected prompts. You could ask the phone, "Where is Union Square?" or say, "Take me to the post office" and the Car Mode app will search for the nearest matching destination and provide spoken directions from Google Maps.

Many smartphone owners are already used to the idea of talking to their phones as they would a human being thanks to the rapid evolution of voice search services like Google Now and Siri (video). Nuance and ZTE's partnership should take this concept a step further by removing the need to touch or look at the phone when behind the wheel.

ZTE has already implemented some of Nuance's technologies in the Car Mode app available on its current Android devices. When we should expect that app to be updated with the new voice biometrics technology and Music Barge-In has not been announced.

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ZTE, Nuance partner for eyes-free, hands-free voice command

Sunny Isles, FL (PRWEB) January 07, 2014

Innovative. Groundbreaking technology. New business model. All are words to describe Livecharity, yet ones that do not paint the whole picture. But, how about a billion dollar promise? A promise not to the company, but a promise to the world. Livecharitys CEO, Johnny Saffar, has made this promise: Over half of the companys net profits earned through its users will be donated to non-profit organizations that Livecharity software users select.

The beta version of Livecharitys free software is available today at http://www.livecharity.com for Chrome users first (it integrates within the browser based upon user settings) and is verified by Norton antivirus. Livecharity is an online ad networking company, one with a revolutionary new ad model that puts control into the hands of the users. Ads are displayed every day when one surfs the Internet; those ads generate money because advertisers pay for the ads to be seen. Livecharity now offers a new online surfing experience.

Johnny Saffar noted, What we have to offer is simple: We are giving you the ability to help. Fifteen million children across the world die of hunger each year. One hundred million people are homeless, and 780 million people don't have clean water to drink. Overwhelming numbers, but how about this number? Three billion. Thats the number that some corporations have made in one month from online advertising revenue.

That is money made from individuals browsing the web. Livecharity has created a way to change things, a way to turn the conventional advertising model around so that better targeted ads are displayed and proceeds help NPOs with their causes to make a real, positive difference. Now its not an issue of wanting to help, but rather doing it. That is what Livecharity is truly about empowering people with the ability to effect change.

With the free software, Livecharity users can make a powerful difference at no cost to them simply by downloading the software and doing what they do every day online. The user has control and is able to set ad preferences for a personalized experienced. Its time to #surf4change.

About Livecharity Corporation: Livecharity Corporation is a start-up business out of South Florida with intentions to grow worldwide. The software will be available for additional browser types in the weeks ahead. Visit http://www.livecharity.com to learn more.

Contact: Please email press(at)livecharity(dot)com or call 855-200-0455.

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The Start-Up That Promises a Billion Dollar Donation and Offers the Truth About Online Advertising

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) The collaboration and document managementsoftware Flow, from the Ann Arbor database publisher ProQuest LLC, is nowaccessible free for researchers including those working for institutions that dontsubscribe to the service.

Flow manages researcher workflows while integrating document management and sharing with citation data. This enables users to discover and manage content, store and organize documents, and through integration with Microsoft Word, write papers, supported with instant bibliographies and annotation.

Flows social capabilities also allow simple document sharing.

Flow is based on ProQuests RefWorks-COS software, the combination of two web-based research management, writing and collaboration tools now in use by millions of university researchers around the world.

Like RefWorks, Flow is designed to keep libraries at the hub of university research. Subscribing libraries can tap into usage data, revealing patterns that help them understand what their users are researching and which resources are most useful to them. Broadening access to Flow via free individual accounts is expected to yield richer analytics and content usage data.

The ways in which researchers are managing materials and collaborating has changed, said Sharol Lubrano, vice president of research solutions for ProQuest. Flow recognizes and supports those new routines intuitively. But it also takes the next step by generating data that libraries can rely on to improve their service, hone their collections and plot trends that help them anticipate future needs.

Flow was introduced in mid-2013. Its integration of text documents and references enables researchers and scholars to easily organize their research. Sharing capabilities support team collaboration, providing a platform for study groups to work together from multiple locations and for instructors to make class readings accessible within the student workflow.

Users can save web page content and metadata, create collections to organize documents and citations, and upload PDF and Office documents. Flow also has built-in recognition of documents and citations so users dont have to enter metadata manually. Once saved to the cloud, these documents can be read, highlighted, and annotated.

In addition to providing usage statistics, institutional subscriptions enable libraries to offer a premium service to their users, including 10 gigabits of storage per user, unlimited collaborators and training services. The free accounts have 2 gigabits of storage and may add up to 10 collaborators per project.

More at http://flow.proquest.com/.

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Free Version Of Document Management Software Flow From ProQuest