Hi Y'all,

On December 24, 2002 the Final, and some Temporary, IRS Regulations for claiming up to a $500,000 exemption on gain from the sale of one's primary residence and any adjacent vacant land (or separate sales of each within the specified time span) went into effect, retroactive to May 7, 1997 (if you can figure out how to file amended returns that far back.) This exemption, subject to length of residency and other time constraints, is available to single and multiple owners (married or not), and to trusts where the trust owner is the residence owner.

A human readable news release is available at
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105042,00.html.
If you think you may qualify, or just for curiosity or future reference, you must read the usual IRS lawyer readable stuff. The Final regs are at
http%3A%2F%2Fa257.g.akamaitech.net%2F7%2F257%2F2422%2F14mar20010800%2Fedocket.access.gpo.gov%2F2002%2Fpdf%2F02-32281.pdf
(pg 1, ½ way down 2nd col), and Temporary and Proposed regs are at
http%3A%2F%2Fa257.g.akamaitech.net%2F7%2F257%2F2422%2F14mar20010800%2Fedocket.access.gpo.gov%2F2002%2Fpdf%2F02-32280.pdf
(pg 1, top of 3rd col). Note the last two are .PDF files and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.

If your computer is not set up with different "profiles" for different users, you are not concerned about "unauthorized users", and the Windows Logon dialog bugs you to death, here are two ways to get around it. Both of these work well in Windows 98 Original, and probably in any Win 9x. I haven't a clue about ME/NT/2000/XP.

If you are not on a network: This hint is from PC Magazine.

1. Go to Control Panel | Network and make sure that the Primary Network Logon field is set to "Windows Logon".
   
   
2. Go to Control Panel | Passwords. Click the User Profiles tab and make sure that the All users of this computer use the same preferences and desktop settings option is selected.
   
   
3. Delete all of the .PWL files from your Windows home folder (probably C:\Windows). There is no need to mess with either WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI. Note that this will cause Windows to "forget" any and all passwords that you may have stored locally.
   
   
4. Restart the system. When Windows asks you to log on, leave the Password field blank and click OK. It should not ask you for a password again.

If you are on a network or aren't sure you want to completely get rid of the Logon dialog, you can perform an Automatic Logon:

1. Go to Control Panel | Tweak UI^(1,2) and click the Logon tab.
   
   
2. Click the Log on automatically at system startup box, fill in the User name and Password fields, click OK.
   
   
3. Every time you start or restart your system, the Logon dialog will display momentarily then go away by itself.

¹ The free Tweak UI 1.33 for Win 95 through 2000 is available from Microsoft at NT Power Toys Downloads. Do not use the older version from the Win 95 and 98 CDs. If you have it installed, get the current version now as the old one is dangerous; it is incompatible with some later Microsoft programs, especially Office ones, and causes them to crash and/or corrupt their data. To determine whether you have the current version, go to C:\Windows\System\TWEAKUI.CPL, right-click the filename, choose Properties, click the Version tab and make sure the version is 1.33.

² Tweak UI for Windows XP is at XP Power Toys Downloads.

Know your Product Key

If you reinstall Windows or Office, you'll be asked for the "Product Key" which is printed on the back cover, or somewhere, on some booklet which came with the CD or your computer. Can't find the booklet? Not to worry. The Key Numbers are stored in the Registry. A little free stand-alone program called KeyFinder will retrieve them for you. You can get it from Magical Jelly Bean Software. Download the .ZIP file, unzip it, double-click keyfinder.exe, and there's your Product Key. Write is down (I recommend using pencil) and stick it in the CD case. You never know when you'll need it.

Support for Windows 98, 98SE (and ME?) Begins to End June 30, 2003
Windows NT was to end then also, but was just given a one year reprieve.

Reinstalling Windows 98 and 98 Second Edition

I recently installed Windows 98 to a clean disk. When I went to Windows Update to bring the installation up to date, I discovered Windows Update does not contain all the required files. The same is probably true for Windows 98 SE. After a lot of dead ends, I finally found a page with links to download pages for many major Microsoft products.

Many of the missing Windows 98 and 98SE files are at Windows 98 Corporate Downloads. They'll probably still be there after June 30, but for how long?. Make a temporary directory, download (Save) these files into it, copy the files to brand new floppies (or a CD), close the corner windows to make them Read-Only, and store them with your original Windows CD and emergency boot disk.

For Windows 98, the files you need are:
Windows 98 Year 2000 Update 1,
Windows 98 Year 2000 Update 2,
System Update (a.k.a., Service Pack 1),
Dial-Up Networking (DUN) 1.4,
Windows Script Support,
Microsoft Libraries Update,
Microsoft Virtual Private Networking (even if you're not using it now),
Windows Share Level Password Update,
possibly Windows 98 Large IDE Update if you have, or may get, a disk larger than 32 GigaBytes AND have a Phoenix brand BIOS of a certain type (read the page!)
and all the security updates which don't apply specifically to Internet Explorer or Outlook Express (you'll be installing up to date copies soon), or the one for the SMTP fix (unless you're running an SMTP server - if you don't know what I'm talking about, you aren't.)

For Windows 98 Second Edition, the first three above you don't need as they are built in to SE. As for other files listed on the Corporate Downloads page, I know you'll need DUN 1.4 and the Win 98SE Shutdown Supplement. I hope you can figure out by reading the file descriptions (click the fle names) or remembering what you installed from Windows Update which other files you need.

Reinstalling Windows 95

All I could find is what's available at Windows 95 Downloads. There's nothing later than August 2000, but at least you can update Windows 95 from 4.00.950 to 4.00.950A (Win 95 SP1), get the Y2K fix and Windows Media Player 6.4 (last one which will run in Windows 95), a mess of critical Security patches, and other updates and bug fixes.

Reinstalling Windows ME

Sorry; I can't find boo for ME. Hopefully Microsoft is correct with it's claim everything you need is in Windows Update. Whether that will be the case after June 30 only Microsoft knows.

And....

After reinstalling your operating system and the "old" updates, you'll be ready to go to the Internet. Your first stop should be to pick up a current Internet Explorer. Take your pick from those at Internet Explorer Downloads. I don't recommend anything lower than Version 5.5 SP2 (5.5 is the last version available for Windows 95.) After installing that, head to Windows Update.

I almost forgot. Don't forget to configure Windows Explorer to SHOW Hidden files and DON'T HIDE File Extensions. My personal preference is to also set the file display to Detail – it's so much easier to find what I'm looking for when a directory has more than a few files and to sort in various ways. After the folder looks like you want it, don't forget to set Make All Explorer Windows look like this one.

The E-Government Act of 2002 became law December 17, 2002, and establishes the Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget. One of the many aims of the Act is to "... increase citizen participation in government."

Toward that end, on January 17, 2003 the Regulations.gov site opened. There anyone can comment pro and/or con on any legislation being proposed by either house of Congress, or new/modified rule/regulation proposals by any Agency, during their "open for public comment" period. Hope word of this site gets out to J.Q. Public – having a single interegrated Public Comment site will save the unitiated, i.e., me, the hours of struggle to find where and how to make a comment on a particular proposal.

If you haven't started putting lots of money aside, better start now. On January 1, 2007, our analog TVs and camcorders will become museum pieces and we won't be able to record TV programs on our VCRs. According to this PC World article, that's only the tip of the all-digital iceberg.

The digital signals will be copy protected. That doesn't mean all copying is disallowed, but (the copyright holders hope) that it can be controlled. Perhaps some content may not allow copying, or playback of copied content may be restricted to the unique device which copied it.

All the puzzle pieces aren't in place yet, but one thing is certain: You will be able to buy a black box (cost unknown) to convert the digital signal to analog so you can use your present TV for a while longer, assuming you'd like to watch everything in letter box format. Even when you spring for a new digital TV set, you still need to make room to store the old one in case you want to watch a VCR tape. Or will the "black box" be able to convert VCR output to digital to feed to a digital TV?

The copy protection scheme will involve some sort of interaction between a code within the TV signal and a chip in a recorder. As of last September the specifications were still being worked out. When it finally gets here (Christmas 2005?), how will it work (the recorder's special chip detects that limited copying is allowed and the chip's serial number is used as an encryption key which means only that chip can decrypt it for viewing?), and what types of recording devices (my guess is only DVD recorders) will work with the digital TV signal?

Even if copying a TV broadcast movie or program is allowed, why would you want to if it can only be watched on the recorder which copied it? When that recorder, or the chip which allows the copy to play, goes poof – and you know it will – your prized copy of your all time favorite movie turns into a tiny frisbee. If you buy a recorder which accepts digital TV input before the copy protection chips are put in, will it still work in 2007?

Wind generated electricity has always seemed to be a good idea to me, but I don't know very much it. Tilting at Windmills is an interesting story of the controverly surrounding a proposed windmill farm offshore from Cape Cod, MA and gives good examples of arguments for and against this particular project, and wind power in general. I found it surprising that many environmental organizations are on the "Nay" side.

The Earned Income Tax Credit has been greatly revised making a larger percentage of the population elegible in the 2002 tax year, especially military personnel. If you haven't quite made the cut in pervious years, maybe this is the year you get lucky. Read about the revisions at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106348,00.html which contains links to further details.

If you have to pay somebody to make copies of your tax return for your records, you can get fill-in-the-blanks .PDF forms at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/lists/0,,id=97401,00.html and print out two copies of the completed forms. You cannot save a copy of the completed form to disk if you use Acrobat Reader, but then you can't do that with a paper form either. Just be sure to read the printed form carefully to make sure it's correct before closing the Acrobat Reader.

In case you need them, .PDF copies of Publications and blank Forms for the years 1992 through 2001 are available at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=98339,00.html.

Get .PDF copies of 2002 Publications and Forms at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html.

The IRS has a number of free e-mailed newsletters for various audiences. See what's available at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106173,00.html and sign up for what interests you at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/content/0,,id=103381,00.html.

Actual answers to exam questions:

• Geologists are one of the chief by-products of geology.
• Genetics explain why you look like your father and if you don't why you should.
• Meteorology is the study of how to get climate without weather.
• Biology is a spare word for when you cannot think how to say insides.
• The way psychology is different from sociology is say that a man kills a neighbor. Well, psychology blames the man and sociology blames the neighbor.
• Astronomy is the same as astrology except the opposite.

Pronouncement made by a group of Aristotelian contemporaries of Galileo, following his discovery of four Jovian moons:

Jupiter's moons are invisible to the naked eye and therefore can have no influence on the earth, and therefore would be useless, and therefore do not exist.

Change is in the air

'Til next time,
Pete