Here’s a video slide show on how to create a MySpace account

Windows Vista now has parental control. In this slideshow, I talk about how to configure them.

It’s income tax season once again - which means millions of people will be using tax software like TurboTax or TaxCut and taking advantage of the numerous online filing sites like TaxActOnline.com or Turbotax.com.

In fact, our friends at the IRS are encouraging us to use PCs to prepare our taxes and again this year are offering the “freefile” program (click on “freefile” at IRS.gov) that, according the IRS site,” allows taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $52,000 or less in 2006 to e-file their federal tax returns for free.” These sites will try to up sell you on other services and may charge you to file your state returns.

I must admit that for a variety of reasons, I don’t prepare my own return. Mine are a bit complicated and my brother, who heads up a CPA firm, gives me a family discount. But for the past couple of years, I’ve used Turbotax.com to prepare my college-age kids’ returns. Theirs aren’t terribly complex but they do have to account for earnings from self-employment and part-time jobs as well as interest and dividends.

For millions of other taxpayers, these services offer an inexpensive and simple way to get through this hated but necessary annual ritual. One thing I love about being a repeat customer at Turbotax.com is that it automatically brings up data from the previous year’s return, cutting down on a lot of data input. It also allows you to import data from online brokerage firms, which cuts down on an enormous amount of typing while greatly reducing the possibility of a mistake. (more…)

Here’s a link to an AP story on CBSnews.com. My column on Ning will be in the San Jose Mercury News (and here) on Monday. In the mean time, here’s a link to my CBS News audio interview with Gina Bianchini, co-founder of Ning.

After months of fine-tuning, Ning is finally ready to make its big push with a free toolkit designed to make it easy to launch a social network with a few mouse clicks. Ning’s package includes all the social networking staples — videos, photos, music, forums, personal profiles and blogs.
Anyone can now create their own social networking site, says CBSNews.com technical analyst Larry Magid.

Source: Social Networking Without The Big Boys, Ning Allows Users To Build Their Own Communities, Outside MySpace And Facebook - CBS News