Ryan Thomas Goodenough

Tomorrow, I turn in my last paper for grad school (Public Policy, for those of you who forget those type of things). The class is called “information technology and globalization” and I chose to do my final paper on the Internet sales tax problem (i.e. how should states go about collecting taxes on purchases that occur on websites that don’t have a physical representation in the state).

For my policy solution, I proposed that states need to do a better job educating the public about the issues involved. For instance, did you know that you should pay tax on all Internet purchases, even if the merchant doesn’t collect it? In this case, this is called a use tax. You are always required to pay use tax, but state authorities tend to only monitor use tax on large purchases (boats, cars, etc.).

Anyway, I really don’t want to talk about it too much more. Why? Because after Wednesday night (Master’s essay presentations), I’ll finally be done with classes.  Now that I think about it, I guess I’ve gone to school every fall since I started Kindergarten.

What am I supposed to do now!?

Oh that’s right–I’ve got a job to do. And golf to play. And basketball to play even more. Oh, and that whole “relaxation” thing. Ahhh…

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In early March, I decided to buy a few shares of Apple (AAPL) when it was around 127. Today, it reached 180. That’s a pretty good gain!

Unfortunately, this is sort of like the first time I went to a casino. I went to Turning Stone with $20 and walked out with $100. So, I went back a few times. And I lost a few times. Something tells me that if I invested more money in the stock market, I might actually lose money. After all, if you always had these sorts of gains, everyone would invest in the stock market without even thinking about it.

This weekend Emily and I were finally able to settle down a little bit to enjoy our birthdays. Last week was filled with PMI interviews for Emily, Zone5 focus groups for me, and a lot of craziness in between. I’m really looking forward to being done with school–it has been a nice experience, but I’m ready for a little more free time.

Chunk, possibly the cutest cat known to the world, passed away this weekend at the age of 7. Known for his big girth, royal crest, and amazing talent as a “space locater,” he will be sorely missed.

Over the next couple months, I will be attending a few conferences to finish up my Certificate in Direct Marketing from the DMA. As a result, I will have a good opportunity to meet some nice, interesting people. Unfortunately, I’ll also meet my share of bad conference people. Among the many candidates, my least favorite conference attendee is the “Mmm Hmm!”-ers.

So who are these people? These are the people who have to verbally agree with whatever the presenter is saying. Even if they have no idea what the presenter is talking about, even if he or she is sharing a personal story, even if the presenter is telling an inside joke–they have to say “Mmm Hmm!” Of course, these are also the same people who will laugh at any joke the presenter makes, even when it’s not supposed to be a joke.

Thankfully, these people will certainly be in the minority and, in many ways, they make the conference more enjoyable. Not because I enjoy what they do, but because I love to catch everyone else giving them bad looks. It’s nice to know that you’re not alone in getting annoyed. Misery loves company, I guess!

For the last few days, Eric and I have been trying different routes back to Albany in his Suzuki SX4.  It’s a good thing that it has 4-wheel drive, because some of the roads are pretty bad!  One trip led us pass a true beauty of a home–huge excavation/pond digging in the front yard, a hollowed out bus with a slide for kids, and a fairly large pirate ship with another slide.  Now that’s just special.

Also along this road was perhaps the best side road ever–Bloody Hollow Road.  I mean, come on, don’t you want to live at One Bloody Hall Road?  Can you imagine inviting friends and family over?

What follows is the piece I wrote today for AIER’s research commentaries:

Our recent commentary on financial fraud shed some light on what is becoming a bigger and bigger problem:

With more than 468,000 reported incidents of financial fraud in 2006 and another 246,000 reported incidents of identity theft in the United States, according to Consumer Sentinel, an online complaint database, Americans need to redouble their efforts to protect their finances and financial reputations.

One way that some Americans think that they will protect their finances is by not “going online.” Their theory is that creating a username and password opens the door to all sorts of trouble. Now, if you are the type of person that leaves your username and password on a Post-It note pasted on your computer monitor then, yes, this might be a serious concern. However, most of your financial information is already online.

Don’t believe me? Pay attention to the teller the next time you are making a deposit at your local bank. They are logged into a computer, accessing your account by entering your account number, and transferring funds over the Internet. Creating a username and password simply allows you to have access to similar tools.

Here are some tips for entering the world of online finances:

• Practice self-surveillance after going online. Monitor your financial accounts on a daily or weekly basis. Look at charges and make sure you know what they are. Many online accounts allow you to setup email or phone alerts if a suspicious charge is posted. In fact, by going online you will be doing a better job of protecting yourself from financial fraud than if you had made the decision not to.
• Make sure to create a unique username and password for each and every one of your financial accounts and change them at least every six months. While it might be easier to have a single username and password, the modest cost of creating and recording several different combinations pales in comparison to the large benefit of keeping your identity secure.

Does it scare anyone else that Freddie (my car) is in this picture? This is right outside my apartment–I hope he wasn’t too scared of the creepy person taking the photo.

You know I love technology (trans: dork), but there is obviously a line between what you can do and what you should do.  Personally, I’m fine with this, but I do think we are beginning to tread too closely to a major security risk (I could care less about privacy–the only place where I believe I have a reasonable expectation of privacy is in my windowless, tiny bathroom).

After enjoying some nice weather for basketball recently, I decided to take a break and resume my exploration of the woods surrounding AIER with Eric.  As you may recall, we got to the waterfall last time, but had to turn around on the path because it was covered in water.  This time, we were much luckier and the good weather had dried out everything.

We didn’t find anything extraordinarily impressive, but there was one property that neither he nor I was previously aware of–it even had its own large pond.  The path made for a nice hike and it was good to get so much fresh air.  It’s pretty nice to be able to work somewhere where you can take a hike on your lunch break.  Not too bad, I guess!

Keep your eyes out for the next installment of “Exploring AIER.”