Episode: 682
Title: HPR0682: NELF &amp; Taxes
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0682/hpr0682.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-08 00:48:56

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The following program is WorkSafe and FamilySafe.
Feel free to listen to it wherever and with whomever you like.
Hello and welcome to today's Hacker Public Radio.
I'm Poki and I'll be your host for today.
A couple of things I wanted to talk about today were my own little bits of community news.
A little bit of a plea for some more shows on Hacker Public Radio and a little bit about doing taxes online.
First of all, I wanted to announce to the Hacker Public Radio community at large that I have ordered the stickers that I talked about on my last show and have received the stickers that I talked about on my last show.
I've started sending them out to people.
If you're interested in getting a Hacker Public Radio window decal, it's like for the back window you're a car.
It's a 3 x 5 inch oval that says HPR on it and in very small letters at the bottom it has the URL to the website.
It sticks on the back window of a car and it looks like one of those European type stickers.
I've got those in. If you're interested in getting one of those and displaying it on your car and doing a little promotion for Hacker Public Radio, please email me and I'll send you one.
They've been paid for already. The postage has been paid for and I'm able to send out a few more this month before I run out of budget on stamps and envelopes for the month.
I'll probably send out a few more next month. I'll be taking a bunch of them to the northeast.
If you're going to be there, just grab one from me there and save me the postage.
If you've got a buddy who wants one too, let me know and I'll stick that in the envelope with yours and you can give your buddy his or hers at the same time.
That'll save a little bit of postage. Also, if you're over in Europe, Ken Fallon is going to have a nice little supply of these.
I'm going to send him a little stack of them.
As far as the stickers go, I would like to thank a couple of people for helping me pay for them.
Troops, 5150 and Ken Fallon. Thank you all to you three guys for sending me some cash to help pay for those that helped out a lot.
I was able to get more that way. I'd also like to thank Code Cruncher for designing the final sticker.
She did a great job on it. They look fantastic and we'll be able to use it again if we want to reorder some more stickers for other events.
That file, the SVG and a TIFF are available. They've been posted on the HPR mailing list and anyone on the mailing list could probably give it to you now at this point if you needed it and wanted to order some of your own.
I'd still am looking for some help at the Northeast Gnu Linux Fest to run the Hacker Public Radio table.
Right now, I haven't got any real materials or plans or anything really to do over there.
My only plan right now is that if I can't find a laptop to bring with me over there, I'm going to bring my desktop computer and my monitor.
This is my main computer so I prefer not to take it but I will bring it if I can't get my hands anything else and just do some tutorials on recording an HPR episode into Audacity and editing it down.
Basically showing people how Audacity works and how recording works. That's my only real plan for the day, that and handing out a bunch of these stickers.
If you would like to come help me and do the same Audacity thing or bring your own thing to do at the HPR table or if you just want to sit there and chat with people and all that kind of thing, you're more than welcome to do it.
I'd really appreciate if someone else would do it because without any help I really can't walk away from the table with my only desktop computer on it and go see some of the Fest.
I would really like to go see some of the other things at the Fest and right now I'm not going to be able to do that.
If anyone could even just sit in for a half an hour or 45 minutes, I'd appreciate that it would be real nice if someone could do that or a couple of people could come do that.
If anybody feels like dropping some materials or supplies off with me and not sitting at the table, that would be fine too.
I'd love a tablecloth or even just a big piece of paper to hang off the front of the table that says HPR, anything like that will be fine.
It would be fantastic even. Just get a hold of me in the mailing list or email directly.
It's pda.030 at gmail.com, pda.iliy03 and that's it gmail.com.
If you got any supplies for me or if you want to help out at the Linux Fest,
and one of these Linux Fest, it's April 2nd in Worcester Mass and they got a website as well.
If you want to help me out with that or drop off some supplies, just email me at that address or if you want to stick or email me at that address,
or get a hold of me through the mailing list over an IRC, even quite as regular as some of the other guys.
But I'm often in the augcast planet chat room on free note.
That would be fine. You'd probably find me there too.
I just wanted to do a quick update on those stickers, let people know that they are available now.
If you've hosted an HPR show, please get a sticker.
I mean, you've earned it especially, and if you're planning on hosting an HPR show in the future,
absolutely contact me because you're going to earn it and have it not sticker in your hand,
might motivate you to put in a show out there.
We really do need more shows, more hosts.
We've had a bunch of new hosts this year towards the end of last year.
And they've all been fantastic. There's so much fun to listen to.
There's so many really cool episodes that was on stuff that I never would have thought of.
It's great to see some new perspective on some of these topics that we hadn't even thought of talking about.
I know you've got one in you. I know you've got a topic in you that you can at least do five minutes on or ten minutes on.
Even if you don't think people are going to be all that interested in it, somebody's going to be interested in it.
I mean, we've got a bunch of people that have a lot of varying interests.
We haven't experienced everything, not everybody has experienced everything.
Somebody's going to want to hear what you have to say.
And I challenge you to put an episode out there.
Sit down and record it, say what you've got to say and put it out there for us to hear.
By virtue of putting a show out there, we're going to like what you have to say.
It's appreciated by everyone who listens to HPR.
Just as much as you appreciate all the other new hosts that you've heard in the last couple of months.
We're going to appreciate you just the same. We really are.
In case you haven't noticed, we're right in the middle of tax season.
For me, I consider tax season to be like February 1st to about mid-April when taxes are due.
I say February 1st because by law, as I understand it, that's when everyone who needs to send you official paperwork has to have that stuff in the mail by.
So I usually wait until February 15th before I start messing with anything.
I try not to even open envelopes so that they're virgin so to speak when I get to them on the 15th of February.
Taxes is kind of a big deal or was at some point for me as a Linux user because I was dual booting from 2007 to maybe 2009.
Because I couldn't get any of my tax software to run on Linux.
I wouldn't work in wine for me anyway. And I just had no idea how to get that done.
And I needed that tax software to get my taxes done because the stuff that I was using way back,
I was using Kipplinger's tax cut that turned into H&R block tax cut.
There's also turbo tax. Those are all, you know, they vary throughout the years,
but they've all been between 20 and $45 for the program.
Whereas if you take that to someone who specializes in tax preparation,
for instance, H&R block, they're the cheapest one.
That's usually going to run you about 300 bucks.
So doing it with software and doing it yourself can wind up being a lot less expensive for you
if you have any idea what you're doing at all.
A lot of that software is so simple to use that it can really help you to get an idea of what you're doing,
especially if you start using that tax software before your taxes are very complicated.
Before you have to do anything like itemization.
Itemizing is really where your taxes get complicated and that does take some practice.
That knowing what your itemizations are and how you can claim them,
what to do with each one and how to prepare for them each year.
It's going to take you 12 months of preparation, carefully cataloging receipts,
to have your itemizations done correctly.
But they are worth a lot of money to you to do that.
It's well worth your time to save receipts for your itemized deductions.
Taking the standard deduction, well it is easier.
Once you start getting to that point in your life where you can itemize,
where you're spending money on things like charities, medical bills, business expenses,
that kind of thing.
Itemization makes a lot more sense and can save you a lot of money.
And you get more in your return or you pay less if you don't withhold.
So it's really handy to do.
What I have found and what everyone probably already knows,
I don't even know if I'm just preaching to the choir here.
But there is a website called Tax Act.
It worked very, very similar to the TurboTax program and into the H&R Blocks tax cut program.
It walks you right through it.
If you find that you've made a mistake or have a question,
you can go back to a different point,
change some numbers here and there, hit Enter and see what that does for you.
See how entering different dollar amounts can help you out one way or the other.
The difference between it, of course.
And the other ones that I've mentioned is that it's online.
Now to the best of my knowledge, it's in no way shape or form free software.
But at least it's online.
You can use Linux and get it done.
I've done it two years in a row now, I think.
Maybe even three.
I think it's 2009.
I had purchased the tax cut software.
I wound up using Tax Act instead once I found it.
This year, I've done my taxes with Tax Act.
And I think it cost me about $17.
And that's for federal and state return.
Both eFiled and both direct deposit.
It has saved me a bunch of money.
Money that I would not have otherwise known about.
And money that I wouldn't have been able to find on paper.
Specifically, my wife had an IRA rollover that was above the maximum allowed.
I wouldn't probably have taken the time to do the paperwork two or three different ways
to see what was best to do with that money.
We know now what's best not to do with it.
We're still looking into what to do with that money.
But it's for the short term not a good idea to leave excess money in an IRA
or put more than the maximum law will mount into an IRA.
In the long term, it may be smarter anyway, but we're looking into that.
But I wouldn't have known to even look at it.
Had it not been for this tax software.
And I'm not certain that a tax preparer for the 300 bucks plus that you're spending on them.
I don't even know if they would have pointed it out or would have taken the time.
Because they're just, they're a tax return factory.
They're just trying to pump you in and out of there as quick as possible.
If you have a 1040 that you're filling out or a 1040 easy and you're not itemizing
and you know how to do your taxes just fine, you're going to go through on paper.
Go ahead and do it online afterwards and compare the results of the two.
You'll probably see that from walking through the software version of it
rather than doing everything on paper.
It'll be at least as good as what you've got on paper is what I've typically found or better.
And this, like I said, this year was far better.
It saved us between 800 and $1,000 depending on what we do with that money
that you know from my wife's IRA.
I never would have known about it.
I never would have found that money.
I just would have went ahead and paid it and given that money to Uncle Sam
for them to waste on some stupid project like the $18 million dollar.
Websites are bombing some innocent country or something.
That's what our government does with our extra money.
And I'd rather have it than give it to them to do that crap with.
So give that a shot if you're not opposed to using proprietary software over the web.
I'm not sure if it uses Flash.
It doesn't seem to because it runs nice and quick.
And I don't remember ever hitting the button that allows Flash to play.
So I'm assuming that it's JavaScript.
And I also did have to allow JavaScript for the web page through the no script plugin
that I have with Firefox.
Every page that I've looked at so far, you know, as you click through it,
every page has been secure with the valid certificate.
So I'm pretty confident in that as well.
Not that I'm a security expert.
But I at least know enough to look up the top in the address bar for the HTTPS.
And it's been there every time I've looked.
So I'm pleased with that.
If you walk away from your computer for, it seems to be about 10 or 15 minutes,
the web page will time out and will log you out so that you don't have financial information up on the screen
and insecure just because you've forgotten about it.
Or you, you know, walked away for too long.
So I liked that about a two that will time you out.
Some people may find that to be a pain in the neck.
You know, obviously it's just going to be a matter of preference.
The two big things that I liked about the website were ease of use
because it was everybody's easy to use as the H&R block stuff.
In fact, I think it was easier than the H&R block software that I have been using
or had been using in the previous few years.
That particular piece of software,
the one I was back using Windows seemed to have gotten worse and worse every year.
It would miss big things that I would have to manually check.
And only because I had had some experience doing my taxes and knew that things were deductible
or should have been included from years before,
did I have to go and do that?
It seemed like ten years ago, or eight years ago or so,
when I was using that software the first time,
it caught a lot more of those things and taught me a lot more about doing taxes.
Whereas the later years of using that, it seemed to miss a lot more things.
With tax act, I don't think that I noticed it missing anything like that.
I used TurboTax one year and the interface was a bit different
and just learning how to use that interface.
It wasn't that it was quirky, it said I was used to the H&R block one.
So just learning that interface was quirky enough that I don't think I missed.
I don't think I caught anything that it missed,
and it seemed to do a pretty good job as well.
But since it doesn't work on Linux,
that's really a point as far as I'm concerned,
because I'm not going to run Windows just for that.
I don't know of any reason why I should run Windows anymore, frankly.
I'm glad to be rid of it.
And that was really my last step was once I found tax act,
was able to get rid of Windows completely.
Track your deductions for a year or so,
because what you'll probably notice is that every year,
even if you don't itemize and you use just a standard deduction,
you'll probably notice that every year as you get older,
you get closer and closer to your deductible being greater than the standard deduction.
It's a good idea to log those things and to track those things
and to get into the practice of doing so,
because it will help you find more deductions each year after that.
I've gone on way too long about taxes.
I'm not a tax professional.
Don't take my advice on how to do your taxes.
All I'm saying is that tax act can help you out a lot
if you want to get off Windows,
and taxes is the only thing left over.
Okay, so to wrap things up, this week's song fight song
is called Back from Juvie.
It's by a guy named John Eric,
his music in addition to being found on song fight.
It can be found on johnjln-irc.com.
He's actually a really nice guy.
I chatted with him on the song fights IRC channel,
and he was very helpful in finding some of the guys
whose music I wanted to play.
Also, he gave me permission to play his music.
Now that hacker public radio's official license
is a creative commons license.
I can't go releasing other people's work
under a creative commons license without their permission.
So, John gave me permission to use his music
as long as I used his name, which is beautiful,
because that's exactly the kind of thing I want to do,
is say, hey, here's some good music,
and here's the guy who made it go find more
from this guy, go support this guy.
So that's exactly what I wanted to do anyway.
And he was also very helpful in helping me find out
who some of these other folks were, whose music I was looking
to get permission to use on song fight.
Lots of people perform under multiple names,
and he was kind of my little key,
my little gateway into the community over there finding out
some of these other guys are.
So it was tremendously helpful.
So, John, if you're listening, thank you so much for your help.
Thank you for being so kind and gracious to me that night
as to not only letting me use your music,
but helping me find out who some of these other folks were
that we talked about.
I talked to another guy in their IRC as well,
and I got a song from him that I'm going to play next time.
It's also something special.
So you guys can look forward to that.
But thanks so much for listening,
and I hope you have a great day.
So, one lady, you learned what I did to
and I'm not going to tell you.
I used to be a real dope of a kid
not the kind you have used well to.
Every night, I found something to swipe
my grandfather's whiskey a rusty old knife.
I knew for sure that I was doomed to be caught
but that wasn't what it did me in.
Every time you look at me,
it's like you throw the book at me.
And I'm still trying to save some grace
for other times I lied.
If everything was paying to me,
it wouldn't be the same for me
unless you gave along the ride.
If I knew you would lie.
And I get back from juvenile.
All I have, I'm a little gift to give you.
Then you can help me get this ankle-braised song.
And maybe I can run away with you.
You and I share a magical bond
with the love of two criminals born on the run.
I know you think that we are doomed to be caught
but I won't let that happen to us.
But every time you look at me,
it's like you throw the book at me.
And I'm still trying to save some grace
for other times I lied.
If everything was paying to me,
it wouldn't be the same for me unless you gave along the ride.
And then we both died.
I've been thinking all these dark thoughts.
I've been trying to keep them good.
So when you ask,
and I don't tell you,
it's just because I'm thinking about breaking this window
and making you what actually you don't want to know.
Just trust me.
Every time you look at me,
it's like you throw the book at me.
And I'm still trying to save some grace
for other times I lied.
If everything was paying to me,
it wouldn't be the same for me unless you gave along the ride.
Everybody.
Every time you look at me,
it's like you throw the book at me.
And I'm still trying to save some grace
for other times I lied.
If everything was paying to me,
it wouldn't be the same to me unless you gave along the ride.
Unless you came along for the ride.
Unless you came along for the ride.
And then we both died.
Yeah.
Are you still here?
Did you think there was going to be more after the music?
Okay. How about this?
After the Northeast Linux Fest,
there's going to be an after-party
at Gillian's bar and grill in Worcester.
It's a pretty big place.
Looks like a game room.
Lots of pool tables,
video games,
loud noises,
music,
liquor, that kind of thing.
It looks like a decent place.
They got a website at Gillian's Worcester.com.
If you want to check it out
and see what it looks like,
you're going to be getting yourself into for going over there.
I do plan on going over there myself.
I was wondering if anybody else was going to be going over there
would be interested in some tabletop gaming.
I got a Settlers of Catan board game
and I could probably pick up another game
if anybody has any other suggestions before we get there.
Or else if you've got a decent German-style board game,
one of those fun things to do while hanging out
and having a couple of beers,
bring yours and I'd be interested in learning that.
If anybody's interested in doing that,
hit me up on email.
We could probably set something up
or maybe there's another place we could do it
that was quieter,
but I don't know.
I feel like hanging out.
This is my first Linux Fest.
I've never been to one before.
So I have no idea what to expect out of it
or out of the after-party
and if I'm way off base here
and then shoot me a line
and tell me I'm way off base
and don't know what the heck I'm talking about.
But if not,
if it's kind of thing that we ought to be doing anyway,
then I'm in.
Who else?
Thank you for listening to Hack or Public Radio.
HBR is sponsored by Carol.net.
She'll head on over to C-A-R-O dot N-E-T for all of her team.
I bet you're the kind of person
that hangs out after the movies
to make sure you don't miss any stuff during the credits.
I want from you.
I want you to be the same.
That is what you will do.
You will spoon-feed the news.
The same technology news to everyone.
You will not help people.
You will not give them tips.
You are not unique.
You will conform.
No, we won't.
Join the Revolution in August.
Listen to the Canoe World Order.
For more info, go to www.thebadapples.info.
This message has been provided to you
by The Canoe World Order.
