The states become the new spammers. Now Missouri is claiming I owe it money. It is asking for an income tax filing it thinks I should have made.
California does better. It just sends bills for random amounts.When I write back asking, “What are you talking about?” it ignores me. Then it sends me another dunning notice, and another. All my assets in the Sacramento County have been or about to be seized. Fortunately I don’t have any assets in Sacramento or in Missouri. I am tempted to write “or anywhere else.” I bet some people pay these random bills without checking — clearly, that’s the point of the states sending them.
Meantime, all the broke towns and muncipalities are upping their traffic tickets and enforcing them like crazy. Big new revenue. Watch out.
DealBook says News Corp. Eyes Myspace Exit. The media giant, which shelled out $580 million for the social network in 2005, said it is exploring strategic options — one day after Myspace slashed its staff nearly in half.
According to Reuters, News Corporation believes a spin-off would be the most logical route, an option that would likely entail someone from the venture capital or the private equity community investing in Myspace, thereby altering the current ownership structure.
Which emphasizes my long-standing believe that few mergers — especially in hot areas — work. I’d be surprised if Myspace is now worth $50 million.
Is SIRI a great spec?
Sirius XM Radio is doing many of the right things. It bought its competitor. Its programming is now the best of both. It’s coming more OEM. 77% of the cars built in America now come with Sirius. It’s coming even OEM on some motorcycles. People are using Siris in their homes. It’s a far better, richer experience than through the air radio that is mostly drek (especially in my area). The saving of this company is classic blocking and tackling. One deal after another. Check out the last few months of press releases. I like what I am seeing.
Revisiting Verizon and the iPhone. Personally I would not switch to Verizon because of the iPhone. But you may want to look at these Android phones coming out soon: HTC Thunderbolt, LG Revolution, Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone, and Droid Bionic 4G.
They will run on Verizon’s much faster, new 4G-LTE network. Verizon’s iPhone will only run on its old slow CDMA network. Personally, I would not want to lock myself into a two-year contract on a Verizon iPhone. The new stuff on the new 4G network looks too interesting.
I don’t 100% agree with Jon Stewart of The Daily Show: AT&T’s network doesn’t totally suck. It works reasonably well. My calls occasionally fail. I redial. No big deal. Gives me time to think. A new experience.
Harry Newton who wonders how anyone can live on social security. I just received my statement. They paid me the grand sum of $24,163.20 for 2010. I reemember the year I sent them a check for $40 million. That’s a pretty lousy return.
I plan on some jokes and more CES coverage tomorrow. Yesterday was hellish.
Harry –
Based on the numbers you present, it seems that you're confusing the IRS with the Social Security Administration. The Federal government does not fund Social Security – we do.
Social Security is funded by a wage tax of about 6.2%, paid by both the employee and employer. I did the math and if you sent “them” (that is, Social Security???) $40 million then, at the time, you must have had a payroll of about $645 million. Congratulations!
Trust me I didn't have a payroll of $645 million. I was simply comparing what I paid one year with what I got out of them one year. It demonstrates my point: You don't want to rely on them for your retirement.