Computers And Finance Essays - Taxation In The United States

Computers And Finance Computers And Finance Computers have made financial bookkeeping much easier, and people no longer have to spend hours tracking investments or pay someone else to do their taxes. Moreover, the advancement in technology has allowed governments to cut back on the number of big companies and employees hired to process tax returns, resulting in the saving of millions of dollars. Although these advancements are extraordinary, they are not without their shortcomings. The IRS has had increased trouble in tracking fraudulent tax returns, and has had to revamp its detection system. The most surprising part of Microsoft's current purchase of Intuit, the maker of the Quicken line of personal finance software was not the $1.5 billion price, which was fifty percent over the market value (Schlender 14). It was not even the fact that Bill Gates, America's richest entrepreneur, is in a position to become America's richest banker (14). The most surprising thing was that it did not happen earlier (14). For years Gates has had a dream of putting "electronic commerce at the core of personal computing," and now he finally has the software to accompany that dream (14). His idea includes a "Wallet PC" that can be carried around with people at all times (14). Microsoft believes that it can provide what executive VP Mike Maples refers to as a "whole new value chain" that will allow customers to interact by modem with banks, insurance companies, pension funds, etc. (14). Quicken is already being used by six million people to pay bills, manage credit, write checks, and handle taxes (14). For those of you scoring at home, it has 5.2 million more users than Microsoft's Money software (14). That is a prime reason that Gates basically wanted to give up the product and donate it to his competitor Novell (14). Programs such as Quicken are excellent for keeping track of what is spent at home, but can be a big hassle for keeping track of the money spent on business trips (Baig 20). One way to solve the problem would be to carry a notebook computer with Quicken on it, but as Edward Baig states "It's just not practical to boot up a laptop each time I step out of a taxi" (20). Intuit has released Pocket Quicken, a "Quicken Lite" for those who carry around digital assistants to help alleviate that problem (20). Pocket Quicken is built into the new Hewlett-Packard 200LX palmtop, the Tandy/Casio Zoomer PDA's, and the AST Gridpad 2390, but is not sold as a separate product just yet (20). Eventually this will also be available on the Motorola Envoy (20). Pocket Quicken allows users to categorically follow expenditures such as food, gas, and rent by creating checking, credit card, and cash accounts (20). Pocket Quicken lets travelers sequester what is spent into areas such as trip, client, project, or class (20). People can share data with regular Quicken with the HP 200LX's $119 optional cable and software package, or with the $30 addition to the Zoomer (20). However, Pocket Quicken does have its shortcomings because it does not allow for the set up of budgets or the following of investments (20). It also does not compute net worth or tax summaries, and does not have all the graphs with which Quicken comes equipped (20). If Pocket Quicken is not of interest, another option would be to record expenditures at the end of each day (20). Yet, another possibility would be QuickXpense for Windows from Portable Software (20). This program allows users to work with the exact expense form they would like to use because many of the forms from large corporations have been previously loaded into the program (20). Another of its qualities is that if a specific company's form was not included, they will put it on a disk for customers if they send blank copy of the form to Portable Software (20). All entries are entered the same as Quicken, but this program will also figure mileage cost for driving, convert foreign currency, and catalog each type of expense included on hotel bills (20). QuickXpense will also let the user know when it is time to file an expense report (20). Computer and technology outsource companies typically handle the dirty work behind tax collecting; however, with the recent advances in technology, the state of New York was able to hire a financial group to handle the responsibility (Halper 63). The New York State Department of Taxation gave Fleet Financial Group a $197 million contract to handle computerized tax collections and refunds for the next ten

A Review of Intelligence for an Age of Terror (Treverton, 2009). The WritePass Journal

A Review of Intelligence for an Age of Terror (Treverton, 2009). Introduction A Review of Intelligence for an Age of Terror (Treverton, 2009). IntroductionConclusionsReferenceRelated Introduction This book by Treverton (2009) is argued here to be a vitally important area of work that looks specifically at the way in which the use of intelligence has naturally had to change as a result of modern society. Interestingly, although there is a clear aim not to apportion blame specifically for the recent atrocities, the author indicates that he feels there is a link between the United States and their flawed approach to intelligence and the high profile terror attacks that have taken place in the US. Significantly, the author is very careful not to apportion blame or finger point and maintains a balanced and critical approach when trying to establish a link and to look at the role of intelligence. Main Arguments Presented In this book, the author actually goes on to break down the failures, in order to try to identify the impact that the specific shortcomings are having on the magnitude and nature of the target of the threats. He recognises in this analysis that, in many cases, the intelligence approaches are enshrined in the Cold War security approaches of looking at the organisation and the tactical decisions of the intelligence offerings, rather than focusing on the actual threats that are being faced in the current climate (Riley et al 2005). One of the main aspects of the book which provides added value to the information that is being presented is that, although the author spends time identifying the failings, he also spends some considerable time looking at the way in which the changes he suggests could be implemented, in practice. As a professional with experience in the field, this shows and adds considerable value to what would otherwise be a potentially academic discussion. In order to achieve this, the author takes a very pragmatic view, with the initial stage being to look at the nature of the risks that are looking at being targeted from intelligence operations. He states that recognising the threats is the first step towards then being able to recognise the way these should be handled. It is this pragmatic approach which looks at both the practical reality and the academic study that makes this book so informative in the area of intelligence being used in the terror context. The author follows themes and after identifying them he then goes on to look at how intelligence should be reformed to deal with the modern challenges. In order to identify the best way to deal with intelligence and to look at the reform of intelligence culture, there is a need first to consider the actual route of the threat and where it emanates from. One underlying argument and theme which is presented by the author here and which adds particular value to the discussion, in the opinion of the reviewer, is to look at the role of the nation state as being at the root of the changing dynamic. For example, during the Cold War, the focus of terror attacks was typically nation states and as such the intelligence gathering focussed on these entities. As time has passed, the nation states have become much more than simply target areas. Nation states can often offer a great deal of information that adds to the knowledge and understanding of the general issues of intelligence. Increasingly however in the modern context, the non-state actors play a vitally important role and it is argued by the author here that much of the role of the modern intelligence officer is to look at understanding the distinctions and various nuances that exist within these non-state actors, in such a way that their own motivation and actions can be better understood (p.141) Linked to this thread of discussion and again a vitally important aspect of the role of intelligence is that there are considerably more individuals, groups and entities that are involved in the area of intelligence gathering to prevent terrorism. With this increased number of people involved, the author places a great deal of focus on the idea that, whilst agencies may well have the technology to share information, they do not necessarily have the appropriate policies in place and therefore the underlying policies need to be reviewed, if modern challenges are going to be dealt with. As an overall position, the author maintains that there needs to be a reasonable means of supplying information across all relevant actors and to ensure that the information which is being presented is relevant and measured, so that the correct people can react quickly and appropriately. By focusing on some of the practical difficulties faced in the current climate, it is argued here that the author gains a much higher degree of legitimacy than other academic analyses in this area may achieve; in particular, the author recognises that it is necessary to take a balance between the need to improve security, but also to provide privacy and security for individuals’ information (Snowden, 2002). He notes that paying attention to legality and legitimacy is in fact increasingly important to the anti-terror efforts and that there then needs to be a total review of the policies associated with anti-terror activities as the main way of managing and combating such issues. He supports this by suggesting that factors such as encouraging intelligence authorities to create a method whereby they can share information with other entities in a constructive and balanced manner is as important, if not more so, than the actual intelligence itself. Conclusions On balance, it is argued that this book presents an interesting and well informed opinion on the modern challenges facing the intelligence industry. By being an author who has practical experience in this area, it is suggested that this allows the text to gain legitimacy and also to take a more rounded view of the challenges being faced. Finally, providing practical and well backed up suggestions for the future means that this text presents real value to the area of intelligence and counter terrorist activities. It is concluded, therefore, that this is a well-balanced and informative text that fills a gap within the current understanding of the intelligence industry. Reference Riley et al., (2005) State and Local Intelligence in the War on Terrorism, Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation Snowden, D (2002) Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive Self-Awareness, Journal of Knowledge Management, Special Issue, September. Treverton, G. (2009). Intelligence for an Age of Terror. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Evolution and Importance of Advertising Essay

The Evolution and Importance of Advertising - Essay Example During the era of written advertisement, other types of adverts were even in play; one of such methods was town criers. Town crier refers to an individual who publicly announces information; this was a good method to communicate with those who still were illiterate. These individuals used to roam around a particular town announcing different types of information such as public policies, goods and services that are being sold and news paper information. Town criers are recognized the first form of aural broadcasters as they orally provided information in live form to a particular audience who were in the surrounding areas (Russell, 1993, p.25). This means of advertisement was considered better as this information was obtained by people in first hand form as compared to magazines and a newspaper in which the information is reaches the public after a short delay. Previously information used to target a larger market and advertisements were expected to bring in huge amount of returns. Now, advertisements are more niches based due to increase in merchandisers focus on customer niches. Consumer awareness have increased due to changes in educational system, now consumers can easily tell when they are being cheated or being manipulated into buying goods and services and when wrongful information is being provided to them. Advertisers have to involve huge amount of time and effort while conducting the process of creating and delivering advertisements as consumers nowadays have become tech savvy. Today, a merchandiser cannot depend on one or two tools of advertisement in order to gain the attention of consumers. Currently, if businesses have to make their advertising operations successful, they have to use Integrated Marketing Communication. Integrated Marketing Communication refers to the use of all tools and resources available for advertising to gain consumers attention. These tools range from mobile phones to internet communities, blogs and social networks. Importance of Economy and Managers Economics rule states that when consumers have more money, they tend to spend more and save less, keeping this concept in view, economy has a major impact on advertiser’s efforts. If advertisement is conducted during the period of economic down trend, when the unemployment rate is high and people have less money to spend, the efforts of advertisement fail as during that time period, people tend to spend less and save more. All businesses have a specific budget especially for advertising purpose. A manager’