The Internet
While the Snow Falls & You Avoid the Shovel; IRS Offers More Free Federal and Free State Tax Software Options
"We are proud to once again offer the industry's most innovative and secure tax software at no cost to 70 percent of American taxpayers. Tax time can be stressful, but Free File makes step-by-step help accessible to everyone making $62,000 or less. IRS.gov/FreeFile is the one place where taxpayers can choose from a variety of industry-leading tax software options in order to prepare and e-file their federal tax returns at absolutely no cost." more »
Scout Report: TechKnitting, Life and Death in the Artic, Ars Technica, Boston Museum of Science, Railroad History, Rockefeller Family Archives
Knitters of the web rejoice: TECHknitting can elevate your skills and answer your questions. In 1845, two ships left England to explore the Canadian Arctic, locate a northern route to China and gather geomagnetic data. Both ships and 129 men disappeared. Ars Technica will be interesting for technology news, policy analysis, scientific advancements, gadget reviews, software, hardware. Recent Neurologica posts examine the neural correlates of delayed gratification, the nature of irrational fears and thoughts on the possibly holographic nature of the universe. 15 chapters take readers from the advent of the American railroads in the 1820s, through the golden age of the 1880s and 1890s to the 1980s and onward. more »
Daily Fantasy Sports: States Zero in on FanDuel, DraftKings, With Eye Toward Regulation
New York and Nevada have banned the sites, labeling the games illegal gambling — rulings that the sites are challenging. But many more states are working on legislation for upcoming sessions that would subject the games to oversight or licensing. California law has a "predominant purpose test," which determines an activity to be gambling if greater than 50 percent of the outcome is derived from luck. In New York, the state has something called the "material element test," which determines that the activity is one of chance, as long as chance plays a "material role" in the outcome. more »
Floor Action, Hearings & Bills Introduced: Terrorist Financing; Terrorist Sanctuaries, Threat to US Homeland & Sexual Violence
This Week: The International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 515) and a resolution condemning the ongoing sexual violence against women and children perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants (S. Res. 310); Floor Action: Health - This week, the House is scheduled to consider S. 799, the Protecting Our Infants Act. Mark-Ups: Employment/Violence Against Women- On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. more »