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ANAMOSA For much of the day, Deshawn Bullock sits in his cell in the Anamosa State Penitentiary and passes the time. There are books. He can watch TV or write letters. And then theres his music.

I had to have it, Bullock, 40, said about the option of buying a CD player when he was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison on drug and escape charges. I have to keep myself out of trouble.

Bullock is one of many inmates in Iowas prisons who use CD players for entertainment, comfort and to relax.

Juston Gruner of Cedar Rapids (left) and Deshawn Bullock share their thoughts on new computer kiosks that will be unveiled soon across the state prison system, during an interview at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Iowas prison system is on the verge of unveiling new computer kiosks that will allow inmates to send virtual grievances and questions to prison staff, along with a new MP3 player system that will allow inmates to download music to personal players rather than buying CDs. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Inmates are limited in the number of CDs they can have, but the Iowa Department of Corrections is rolling out a system in the next several months that will change that by enhancing inmates musical options through digital technology.

Music kiosks are being installed in all of Iowas nine prisons that will let inmates download songs onto MP3 players they can buy through the prison commissary. The move will keep inmates, to some degree, up to speed on todays fast-moving technology while also cutting down on the amount of property that has to be searched.

Prison officials believe its important to offer inmates music because, for starters, it can keep them out of trouble. Many of the states younger offenders, for example, became comfortable using electronics as a stress-reliever on the outside, said Sheryl Dahm, assistant deputy director for the Iowa Department of Corrections eastern region.

It is their relaxation, she said. We have to, at some point, reach out to where theyre at in their generation.

Offering MP3 players also addresses a safety issue.

We want to offer things that you cannot use to hide contraband, said Dahm, An MP3 player is smaller in size and you cant take it apart as easy.

Originally posted here:
New music, digital options in store for Iowa inmates

It only makes sense for professional sports teams to work towards a digital workflow. What once required large binders with hundreds of pages of paper to print a playbook can now be accomplished using a simple tablet device, like an Apple iPad. What once required players to sit in front of television screens with remote controls and shuffle through countless tapes can all be loaded on the same tablet device. This signals a change for the future for NFL teams. The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers utilized iPad devices in the 2011 season and more teams are going that route in the future.

In an interview with Dan Croft, the CEO of Mission Critical Wireless, he spoke to me about how his company is working with the Houston Texans to work towards a digital workflow. The Texans' organization utilized Mission Critical Wireless to help employ a Mobile Device Management platform. Croft stated that, "Mobile Device Management software allows a company to manage and control the devices". The benefits of MDM is that it presents a high level of security for companies looking to secure their devices. Another big advantage is that a MDM strategy doesn't focus on just one platform. There are great devices available that run Apple's mobile operating system, Google's Android, RIM's Blackberry devices, and many more. The implementation of MDM allows a team like the Texans to expand into many different operating systems and use a wide range of devices within their organization.

He stated that there were very few objections when implementing the digital workflow because the organizations had increasing requests from users. There is also very little training needed because to the end user the device operates in a way they are already familiar with. Another big advantage is that the support from the organizations IT staff remains the same. They're able to use Mobile Device Management software to remotely push data to the devices and set very distinct restrictions on them.

Croft stated that the major advantage he sees is "the importance of the real-time aspect" it presents. Every week a team will change their game plan and even alter their playbook. Using tablet devices allows an NFL team to save time and money when rolling out new information to their players. The combination of security and real time capabilities make technology the future in sports organizations. Croft stated that coming from the technology world, it makes sense that sports teams are venturing into using technology further. Technology is the perfect complement for the needs of a professional football organization.

The big fear teams always had when handing out playbooks was security. When a playbook is lost, a teams secrets are exposed. This fear is now gone as teams transition to tablet devices. The Houston Texans are ahead of the curve as they work this upcoming year to transition their organization towards a digital workflow. It only makes sense for more NFL teams to follow this strategy into the future.

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and has been a lifelong football fan. He also follows technology closely and is very interested in the merger between the two. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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Houston Texans Working to Implement Tablet Devices and Digital Technologies

12 March 2012

The Isle of Man government has launched a consultation on draft legislation to update the regulation of 'Recognized' Collective Investment Schemes.

In the Isle of Man, 'Recognized' Schemes are schemes that are authorized under the laws of certain (designated) countries, which are of a class specified in an Order made by the Manx Financial Services Commission (FSC). The Collective Investment Schemes Act 2008 allows the FSC to make such Orders only if it is satisfied that adequate protection will be afforded to participants in the schemes covered by those Orders.

The consultation document notes that the benefit of such Orders is that they enable the 'Recognized' Schemes to be promoted to investors in the Island, so that residents of the Isle of Man can have access to a variety of investment options, including retail funds.

The existing 'Recognized' Schemes Orders that designate certain schemes in Guernsey, Jersey and the UK, were made in 1989 (Jersey and Guernsey) and 2006 (UK). However, the document points out that since then there have been changes to those other countries fund structures which means that new Orders are now required so as to keep the Isle of Mans schemes legislation in line with that of the designated countries.

The paper explains that Orders designating classes of schemes in Luxembourg and Ireland were updated in 2011, due to there being more significant changes to those countries funds structures. Smaller changes to fund structures in Guernsey, Jersey and UK during the last few years, means it has been less necessary to progress revised Orders in respect of these countries. The Commission has therefore focused its resources more recently on updating legislation where the changes required were more significant. However, it is now thought appropriate to revise the Orders that relate to Guernsey, Jersey and UK schemes.

The Draft Orders will:

The consultation exercise will remain open until March 23, 2012.

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IoM Consults On Fund Laws

A group of U.S. expatriates has written a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman to complain he has not responded to a directive from the National Taxpayer Advocate objecting to the way taxpayers who came forward under the 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program were treated by IRS examiners.

Nina Olson

Last December, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson described her concerns in her annual report to Congress and later sent a rarely used Taxpayer Advocate Directive to Shulman (see Taxpayer Uncertainty Prompts Citizenship Renunciations). Olson, who heads the Taxpayer Advocacy Service, argued that IRS examiners treated some taxpayers unfairly who had come forward under the 2009 program to voluntarily declare previously undisclosed bank accounts to the IRS. She said the IRS had subjected them to a one size fits all regime and rescinded some of the claims midstream that would have qualified for reduced penalties by way of reasonable cause (see Groundhog Day for IRS Voluntary Disclosure Do-over).

Olson issued a rare Taxpayer Advocate Directive last August, only the sixth in her office's history, according to Tax Notes, to try to force the IRS to change its audit procedures by revoking a memo from last March that directed IRS examiners to stop accepting less than a 20 percent penalty and assume that a violation is not willful unless proven otherwise. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has not yet answered her request.

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The expatriate group, American Citizens Abroad, has now written to Shulman to express its concern that Shulman has not responded to Olsons directive. The ACA noted that tax information publisher Tax Analysts has reported that IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has no plans to respond in writing to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsons Taxpayer Advocate Directive (TAD) on the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) despite a statutory requirement that taxpayer advocate recommendations be responded to within 90 days.

In the TAD and in her report to Congress, Olson said that IRS examiners treated some participants in the 2009 OVDP unfairly, and she ordered several IRS divisions to take various steps to correct this treatment, including allowing taxpayers who had paid penalties under the OVDP to request a reduced penalty. In her report, she used the term bait and switch to describe the change in OVDP policy that the IRS implemented a full two years after rolling out the program.

In a Sept. 22, 2011 memorandum after her August TAD, Olson explained why she instructed the IRS to change such practices. In the memo, she noted that the IRS harmed taxpayers seeking to correct honest mistakes, and the IRS retroactively changed the terms of the OVDP to eliminate the possibility of examiners reducing penalties for overseas filers who had no idea they had to file, the ACA pointed out.

The memo further explains that the OVDP penalty structure assumes all participants are tax evaders hiding money overseas, when in fact, the IRS steered many people into the program who made honest mistakes.

Many participants in the OVDP program have been Americans living overseas who had no idea they had to make a tax declaration to the United States, which is the only country in the world, besides Eritrea, which taxes on the basis of citizenship instead of residence, according to the ACA. In her memorandum, Olson said of the OVDP, A more effective initiative would have prompted even more taxpayers to come into compliance without leaving those who did come forward feeling terrified, tricked, or cheated.

The rest is here:
Expats Protest IRS Treatment of Citizens Overseas

NEW YORK -- Chinese online video giant Youku.com announced it is buying peer Tudou in an all-stock deal valued at more than $1 billion. The combined entity will be called Youku Tudou and will be a leading online video company in the world's largest Internet market. Tudou reported a net loss of 511.2 million yuan ($81.2 million) last year, while Youku on Monday posted a net loss of 172.1 million yuan. Youku shares were plunging 10% to $22.50 in premarket trading Monday while Tudou shares were surging 118.8% to $34. FuelCell Energy reported a first-quarter loss of 5 cents a share, narrower than the loss of 6 cents a share expected by analysts. Shares were gaining 9.3% to $1.64. Carnival shares were rising 2.3% to $31.28 after being upgraded to outperform from underperform by Exane BNP Paribas. The stock has been hurt recently by Carnival's cruise ship accidents. PepsiCo on Monday named former senior Wal-Mart executive Brian Cornell to head Pepsi's largest and most profitable unit, the Americas-wide food division. PepsiCo also named longtime company executive John Compton to the new position of president. Cornell and Compton, along with European operations chief Zein Abdalla, are viewed as the top internal candidates to succeed CEO Indra Nooyi, who has been getting heat from investors. "Today marks an important and essential step in PepsiCo's journey to continue to deliver sustainable growth," Nooyi said in a press release. "John and Brian are superb executives and will both contribute enormously in their new roles to ensure that we compete effectively and efficiently in the global marketplace." Shares were adding 1% to $63.80. Japan's Asahi Kasei agreed to buy Zoll Medical , the medical equipment maker, for $2.21 billion. Asahi Kasei, which makes chemicals and construction materials, agreed to buy Zoll for $93 a share in a tender offer. The transaction price is a premium of 29.6% over Zoll's average closing stock price over the last 30 trading days. Zoll closed Friday at $75.10. JetBlue has held talks with senior management of Aer Lingus about taking a stake in the Irish airline, the Irish Times reported. JetBlue is Aer Lingus management's preferred trade investor at a time when the Irish government is planning to sell its 25% holding in the airline, the newspaper said, citing informed sources. The stake is valued at about 116 million ($152.3 million). LDK Solar is expected by analysts to post a fourth-quarter loss of 67 cents a share. Federal prosecutors investigating whether U.S. executives at beauty products company Avon broke foreign-bribery laws have presented evidence in the probe to a grand jury, The Wall Street Journal reported. Authorities are focused on a 2005 internal audit report by the company that concluded Avon employees in China may have been bribing officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Journal said. -- Written by Joseph Woelfel and Andrea Tse >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel Related links: Investors Still Skeptical of Bank Stocks Why Apple Didn't Release a $299 iPad

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Stocks to Watch: Tudou, Youku.com (Update 1)