Daily Links for October 27, 2007

• GoDaddy Increases .Com Prices 12% - Domain Name Wire
  Domain name registrar GoDaddy has increased its base price for .com domains to $9.99, plus an ICANN fee of $.20. It’s due to increases in the prices Verisign charges for all .coms. Good thing they keep having great discounts that I tell you about.
  (tags: Verisign Registrar domain Godaddy)
• Microsoft’s ‘Halo’ effect
  Microsoft reported quarterly earnings Thursday that beat analysts estimates, citing robust demand for its Vista operating system as well as its new video game “Halo 3.” Shares of the company were up nearly 10 percent after-hours. If only I kept my stock.
  (tags: vista halo halo3 earnings stocks microsoft)
• Senate approves Internet tax ban extension
  The Senate on Thursday night approved a seven-year extension of a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access. The two chambers will have to reach a compromise on the length of the ban and other differences.
  (tags: Senate Internet Tax Congress)
• FCC approves $27.5B Alltel buyout
  The Federal Communications Commission on Friday approved a $27.5 billion buyout of Alltel Corp., the nation’s fifth-largest wireless carrier, to a private investment group.
  (tags: cellphones telephones Alltel FCC business)

Tax Deadline Reminder, and IRS Loses Data

Federal tax returns for 2006 are due on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. So get working on them if you haven’t already. TurboTax online was very easy to use, though it costs the same as the PC software version. I liked how it walked me through each step with explanations. I was able to finish my return in two days.

In an unrelated turn of events a USA Today article details the lax security at the IRS that led to the loss of 490 computers that have been stolen or lost since 2003 in security breaches. “The computers were lost in 387 incidents, most of which were not reported to the IRS computer security office as required, according to the report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.” They also found that laptops lacked password protection and encryption software that would protect taxpayer information and other data. Over 2,000 people have been affected. Does this scare anyone else? The agency required to have all our information loses it and doesn’t report the incidents. I’m moving to Canada.

Source: USA Today