Taxes - Internet makes it a little easier

Beginning in 1986, a pilot program was established in 3 cities with 5 preparers that allowed for simple returns expecting refunds.  That first year, 25,000 people electronically filed for tax returns.  Currently, several methods exist including using software to prepare the returns and send them to a intermediary who then forwards them to the IRS or having a authorized preparer compete the taxes and transmit them.  The IRS program is called Federal/State E-File and allows taxpayers to submit their state and federal returns at the same time to the IRS.  In 2001, 40 million federal income tax returns were completed online.

Filing online is known to cause faster refunds, be more accurate as it allows for double checking, and can confirm that the return was submitted successfully.  The increase of online tax filing is similar to the growth in the accessibility and use of the Internet  In 2010, E-Filing receipts totaled over 98 million.  79% of all taxes filed were completed online in 2011.  This is a huge increase from the 30% in 2001. 

The ability to file taxes online also allows for a tremendous amount of paper and time saving.  E-Filing has saved billions of sheets of paper over its lifetime.

Below is a chart showing the returns filed electronically by state for 2010.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/IRS-E-File:-A-History
http://www.learnvest.com/knowledge-center/how-many-trees-are-saved-each-year-by-e-filing-taxes/
http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/392/Electronic-Income-Tax-Filing.html

Government Websites You May Not Be Informed About

So, on a more boring note of a blog, while there is so much excitement that goes along with the government and how they use the internet, such as spying, they also utilize the internet in many ways that can be useful to us. Take for instance using website such as ncdot.gov, North Carolina’s official DMV website or fasfa.ed.gov, the Federal Student Aid website.

                Lifehacker.com lists several websites that are out there for our use, some of which I had never heard of. Many of these websites are helpful because, along with allowing is to renew our drivers licenses and file for financial aid, they also give us the ability to do our jobs as citizens, and keep up with congress, locate historical documents, among many other things.

                This website outlines several different government websites among hundreds that are out there. USA.gov is one which provides access to many online services such as shopping government auctions and contracting elected officials. GPO Access offers us the ability to access official information from all the branched of the federal government. And CIA World Factbook provides us with information about various countries and territories all around the world.

                While this may not be as exciting as reading about how the government is destroying our lives by using our information without us knowing, I did find this very interesting. I was unaware there were so many government websites designed to provide us with information. It makes me think about our jobs as citizens of this country to keep us educated about our government and what is going on. To find out we are given it by them, I feel we have no room to be complaining when there is information available to us out there that we seem to be doing nothing with.

How many government websites are you all aware of? Any that you use regularly? How does knowing these are out there and the information we have access to make you feel about how informed the majority of the citizens are about what is going on politically?

Citations:

Boswell, Wendy. "U.S. Government Web Sites You Didn't Know You Could Use." Lifehacker. N.p., 16 July 2007. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <http://lifehacker.com/277405/us-government-web-sites-you-didnt-know-you-could-use>.

2013 Update of Internet Freedom Around the World

As you have experienced, the internet in the United States is easily accessible and unrestricted, a place of free speech and exploration, whether it's important, or stupid hashtags. It's not that way everywhere though, and according to the Freedom House, (A global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media) a map has been posted to present the internet across the globe.

This map is the latest update as of Oct. 3, 2013.

Freedom House comes out with a updated map once a year, and in the 2013 edition, it shows that a lot of censored, un-free internet is still out there. For a more detailed look at all of the countries, Freedom House has graphed each country's internet freedom from most free to least free.

Freedom House also indexes the little changes too. Another graph below demonstrates how each country's freedom has declined, and the US has taken a hit mainly due to the NSA, but still remain classified as "free."

The next time you're frustrated because your connection is out, or if its just slow, remember it could be way worse. 

Resources:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/resources/FOTN%202013%20Summary%20of%20Findings.pdf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/internet-censorship-what-does-it-look-like-around-the-world/2012/01/18/gIQAdvMq8P_blog.html

 

Way More Than You Ever Wanted to Know about International Politics

By Tim Mulligan

Intellectuals like to establish a number of fancy terms to describe concepts. The world of international politics is no exception. During our presentation, I spent a good amount of time describing the difference inbetween NETPOLITIK and REALPOLITIK (all caps used for emphasis). If you were thoroughly confused, consider this my apology, and my attempt to clear the differences up. I will also discuss other influential understandings of how governments interact internationally. (real quick, "politik" is the German work for politics)

So, let's begin with a couple of the less common views. 

MEDIAPOLITIK:

Bascially, mediapolitik puts the media as the central player in international politics. The relationship between governments and the media creates an ever shifting balance of power that drives public opinion in foreign policy making. In all honesty, do we want the media to be able to drive policy making?

CYBERPOLITIK:

Cyberpolitik puts the emphasis on information power. It postulates that international politics is no longer a matter of states, but that raw power is fortified by information. 

NOOPOLITIK:

The "noosphere" is the sphere of ideas. Noopolitik takes that idea and applies it to international politcs. It is more a matter of ideas and values (by state and non-state) actors than of raw power. It is a collection of mass and cyber media that drives "soft power" and thought leadership in policy making. 

Though those three are helpful in our understanding of intergovernmental politics, the two most important views are REALPOLITIK and NETPOLITIK. 

REALPOLITIK:

The great historical luminaries (Richelieu, Metternich, Bismark, and Kissinger) all used Realpolitik to understand international politics. As I mentioned in class, think of policy making as a massive, world-wide chess match between nation-states. Alliances, treaties, wars, and conflicts all greatly affect the balance of politiks, and the goal becomes to be the one who comes out on top of what is essentially a political brawl. 

NETPOLITIK: 

Netpolitik, on the other hand, accounts for the change brought by modern technology. The rules have changed. More than anything, politics are controlled by the narratives and participation of individuals in broad networks. The presence of online networks have totally changed the ability of a citizen of a single country have a international impact through their networks. They have become the organizing principle in the conduct of world affairs.

So think about it, how do you organize your world? Those same principles dominate on an international scale.

Check out this document for reference: http://pendientedemigracion.ucm.es/info/sdrelint/ficheros_materiales/materiales0415.pdf

Stuxnet: A Computer Worm Started by a Country?

What would you think if your country was responsible for a computer worm? It appears that could be the case with a worm discovered in 2010 that is believed to be connected to the United States and Israel.

Stuxnet, a computer worm discovered in Iranian industrial sites, is a worm created specifically to seek Siemens software. Siemens Step7 is a program designed to program industrial control systems that operate equipment. Once the worm is installed, it can spy on the systems and even affect the equipment the Siemens software is controlling.

The effects of this could be devastating. The virus was found in 14 Iranian sites, one of which being a uranium-enrichment plant. If the worm was able to control the systems in place, a major nuclear accident could occur.

The Stuxnet worm is incredibly complex. It is designed to be transmitted via USB flash drives, meaning a person could transmit the virus simply by using a flash drive on two separate computers. It is also able to spread to computers via networks with shared printers, a common practice with internet connection sharing networks. Stuxnet also makes itself appear credible to antivirus software, being signed with a digital certificate. This feature shocked the antivirus community since their automated-detection programs are not able to identify a fake digital certificate.

But why would someone want to spy on and control Iranian industrial systems? Sure, information gathered from this sort of spying could be sold to an interested party. However this is not likely. Kaspersky Lab, a leading antivirus company, was responsible for finding the virus. After analyzing the code, it was clear to Kaspersky that "...Stuxnet had been specifically designed to subvert Siemens systems running centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program. The Kaspersky analysts then realized that financial gain had not been the objective. It was a politically motivated attack. 'At that point there was no doubt that this was nation-state sponsored.'"

Experts believe that the size and sophistication of the worm indicates a nation-state sponsor. The authors have not officially been identified, however "...leaks to the press from officials in the United States and Israel strongly suggest that those two countries did the deed."

Although it is not confirmed that the U.S. was involved in the creation of Stuxnet, the speculation brings up an interesting debate. What do you think about a government being involved in the creation of a computer virus?

Personally, I think it depends on the circumstances. If a country was able to use the information gathered from this virus for good then it seems okay. By good, I do not mean good for one country. By good I mean for the world as a whole. If there is a threat of a country creating nuclear weapons with the intent of using them and this virus could somehow prevent that threat, then it would benefit the whole world by preventing a major nuclear war. On the other hand, if a country is using this to causing another country's nuclear facilities to malfunction and cause a nuclear disaster, then it is absolutely not okay.

Source:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/the-real-story-of-stuxnet

Web 2.0 vs. Control 2.0

          Is Web 2.0 becoming Control 2.0? Whether, we like it or not... Government uses internet as a tool of control. TG daily has states that countries like, China has "increased its efforts to monitor internet use, control, content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic websites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations."

                                                                     

 
            I know we don' t live in China but how long until we reach that point in our country?
            How do we keep this from happening?

Reporter without borders reported that "a growing number of countries are attempting to tighten their  control of the Net, but at the same time, increasingly inventive netizens demonstrate mutual solidarity by mobilizing when necessary."

 Do we open ourselves up and expose too much information online? Are we setting ourselves up for trouble? Or is the government just taking advantage? 

Which countries are for Control 2.0? Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Uzbekistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.

            

           "Among the countries “under surveillance” are several democracies: Australia, because of the upcoming implementation of a highly developed Internet filtering system, and South Korea, where draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on Web users by challenging their anonymity and promoting self censorship." -Reporters without Borders

 Since the creation of internet, close to 120 bloggers have been imprisoned. In one particular case, "In Azerbaidjan, the regime is holding Adnan Hadjizade and Emin Milli – two bloggers who had exposed the corruption of certain officials and had ridiculed them in a video circulated on YouTube. Four online journalists are also behind bars in Yemen. It is too soon to tell if these arrests may herald a new media takeover."- Reporters without Borders

     

Bloggers are being arrested for reporting the story? How long until we reach this point?

            New Blog COMING SOON: Ways to KEEP your Privacy ;)

Woollacott, Emma. "Governments Use Internet as Tool of Control | TG Daily." TG Daily. Velum Media, 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

Morillon, Lucy. "Web 2.0 versus Control 2.0 - Reporters Without Borders." Web 2.0 versus Control 2.0 - Reporters Without Borders. N.p., 18 Mar. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

Healthcare.gov – First impressions are hard to get back

by Brock Bailey

A huge source of controversy over the past few years has been the rollout of Healthcare.gov, the insurance web site at the center of the Affordable Care Act.  October 1 was the initial rollout date for the site and since then it has been plagued by technical issues.  Even after completion of pre-launch testing, government contractors suggested the system still had serious issues that needed to be addressed.  The website went ahead with its scheduled premier anyways.  Head of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), Marily Tavenner, attributed the problems to the system being overwhelmed form all the online traffic.  If this were the true problem, poor planning is at fault because those at the top of the program should have expected the massive amounts of people that were to be visiting the site.  IT experts who have examined the site determined that bad software code was the cause.  This cause seems to be more realistic as the site constantly undergoes adjustments. 

Currently (11/3/2013), the Healthcare.gov website reads:

“The Health Insurance Marketplace online application won’t be available from around 9pm Saturday, November 2 to 9am Sunday, November 3 while we make improvements”

In my opinion, the underlying problem is the administration being in control of both passing the legislation and trying to implement it themselves.  They failed to realize the enormity of what was trying to be accomplished and did not delegate vital tasks to the absolute best outside experts who would have been more suited for the technical aspects of the job.  Part of the strategy that was keeping as much of the project out of public eye and under administration control came from the constant sabotage attempts by Republicans.  Although many politicians, including Obama, have apologized for the problem-riddled web site, there has yet to be anyone to step up and actually take responsibility. 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/challenges-have-dogged-obamas-health-plan-since-2010/2013/11/02/453fba42-426b-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story_2.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/opinion/getting-to-the-bottom-of-healthcaregovs-flop.html?_r=0

http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/29/obama-administration-offers-official-apology-over-broken-obamacare-website/

https://www.healthcare.gov/