One of my coworkers showed me this animation. Amazing how complex it is and how long it must have taken to film.

This was something I ran across in one of the forums I watch tonight. It looked like a interesting list so here it is on my blog, I haven't validated any of it:

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Let's examine the following excerpts from the Bible;

1. God is satisfied with his works
Gen 1:31
God is dissatisfied with his works.
Gen 6:6

2. God dwells in chosen temples
2 Chron 7:12,16
God dwells not in temples
Acts 7:48

3. God dwells in light
Tim 6:16
God dwells in darkness
1 Kings 8:12/ Ps 18:11/ Ps 97:2

4. God is seen and heard
Ex 33:23/ Ex 33:11/ Gen 3:9,10/ Gen 32:30/ Is 6:1/
Ex 24:9-11
God is invisible and cannot be heard
John 1:18/ John 5:37/ Ex 33:20/ 1 Tim 6:16

5. God is tired and rests
Ex 31:17
God is never tired and never rests
Is 40:28

6. God is everywhere present, sees and knows all things
Prov 15:3/ Ps 139:7-10/ Job 34:22,21
God is not everywhere present, neither sees nor knows all things
Gen 11:5/ Gen 18:20,21/ Gen 3:8

7. God knows the hearts of men
Acts 1:24/ Ps 139:2,3
God tries men to find out what is in their heart
Deut 13:3/ Deut 8:2/ Gen 22:12


8. God is all powerful
Jer 32:27/ Matt 19:26
God is not all powerful
Judg 1:19

9. God is unchangeable
James 1:17/ Mal 3:6/ Ezek 24:14/ Num 23:19
God is changeable
Gen 6:6/ Jonah 3:10/ 1 Sam 2:30,31/ 2 Kings 20:1,4,5,6/
Ex 33:1,3,17,14

10. God is just and impartial
Ps 92:15/ Gen 18:25/ Deut 32:4/ Rom 2:11/ Ezek 18:25
God is unjust and partial
Gen 9:25/ Ex 20:5/ Rom 9:11-13/ Matt 13:12

GTA IV was modeled after New York City, that was a known especially with things such as the Statue of Liberty hanging out around town.

What was not fully realized was to what extent the crew at Rockstar would go to to model the city after New York. Awesome comparison pictures.

Background: I was audited by the IRS starting in November of last year and lasting until about a month ago.

The basic message from my audit is that it turned out well. Found out they owe me a small amount of money, which is never a bad thing but in consideration of the event I’ve decided to type up some of my observations below.

Alan’s Rules Based around his Audit Experience:

1. You can be audited even if you are doing nothing wrong.
a. My audit was random. They told me that my audit would be used to help refine their statistical model of the United States population and also help to further refine their fraud-detection systems. Statistically they stated I was one in fourteen thousand people in my category that would be audited this year.

2. Keep your books in order.
a. Know where a copy of your last several tax returns are and ALL related backup documentation. I’m pretty sure she said most audits would be on returns filed within the last four years. Most people could probably tell me where their W2 is (required to files your return) but if I asked you for all the receipts relating to your deductions and backup documentation do you know where it is? Better question – will the information in your documentation file directly back-up what you submitted on your return?
b. Keep copies of your bank statements and other income accounts or make sure you know where to get them on short notice.
c. Use Money, Quicken or some other software to help you get a grip on where your money comes from and where it goes too; this can save a ton of time when the auditor asks for additional information. To answer one or two of her questions I printed out a copy of my Microsoft Money records and found a couple institution statements to back it up rather than having the institutions charge me a fee to produce records from a couple years ago.

3. If you itemize or declare something on your taxes as a deduction you need to make sure that it is fully documented. Don’t fudge.
a. Changing $200 to $400 for a donation since you know you had donated more but couldn’t find the receipt assuming you won’t be audited could create complications later. Make sure to ask yourself the question – is that extra $200 in deductions worth an extra $50 in refunds when you get audited? After my experience I assure you the answer is “No”.

4. Be Honest.
a. This is a obvious one, but the less obvious part is if you are caught fudging (as you might have done in #3 above) or your roommate has been paying “rent” to you for years but you haven’t declared it then answer the questions truthfully when they come up. Don’t try to dodge. It was clear to me that she sees most “honest” mistakes often and has methods to cope with them. If you fat fingered a number or you guesstimated, figure out the logic you used and present it. If it was reasonable there is a good chance your auditor will also see it as reasonable. During my audit there were a couple of questions she had that I had to say “I don’t have exactly X and Y, but here is what I did” and in both cases she was plenty happy with my answer. If I remember right in one of them she did have me go and get a print-out from my Microsoft Money register to back it up.

5. As a individual the IRS cares more about where your money came from than where you spent it.
a. The IRS will want copies of all of your bank statements, investment and income account documentation.  This created a large amount of work for me. From now on I’m keeping copies for my statements. They didn't have any desire to see copies of my credit card statements or other out-flow accounts unless they were related to deductions/expenses I had declared.

6. Make sure you can explain any additional income you receive, especially if it comes in regularly in large quantities.
a. The Auditor will look at your accounts for income. Got a roommate that pays you “rent”? Mom supplementing your college education with monthly checks?  Make sure it’s clearly documented and you understand your tax liability. If the money from Mom is a gift make sure that both of you understand that.
b. If you made any substantial income from anyone other than your main employer they will (or should be) filing a 1099-MISC on you. That information will be going to the IRS and a copy should be sent to you. After my audit experience from now on I will be asking for 1099’s from any company that I do work for outside of my primary employer even if it’s under the limit. This will make sure that the company paying me, the IRS and I all have a common understanding of my income.

7. Your auditor is a human being.
a. My auditor was a human with a family and a life. She was doing her job, which she had been doing for 20+ years.  By treating her as a person I think my life was much easier than if I had decided to make an enemy right from the beginning.

8. If you need more time to gather information ask for it.
a. Your auditor knows that coming up with all the documentation can be a huge pain. Produce what you can, ask for additional time if you need it. Your audit isn’t going to be a one week ordeal as I learned – you asking for a few more weeks or a delay of a month or two isn’t going to change the schedule much either way.

9. Be prepared and organized.
a. When I showed up my auditor was surprised to see that I had all my documentation in-hand and in-order before I arrived. They sent me a letter telling me what they would want but apparently most people don’t bother showing up with it. It put my auditor in a good mood right from the start when she saw that I was producing exactly what they asked for and had it organized in a easy to decipher way.

10. Don’t Over-Do It.
a. Just because they asked for a lot of information doesn’t mean you need to show up with every receipt from every time you bought a big mac in the last 20 years. Produce exactly what they want, no more and no less unless you see a direct line of questioning leading to the information they want. In that case bring it along but then only hand it over when they state that they will want it.

11. Don’t nitpick for every dime on your taxes!
a. It was very clear from the start of my audit that the IRS staff are very used to people that try to squeeze every penny from the system and will skirt every rule to try to get that extra $100 in their refund. Be reasonable and chances are they will be too.  
b. This experience has really changed my perspective on deductions as a whole. Trying to crush that extra $100 out of my refund is not worth it. Organized and easy to justify will win out in the end for me in the future. Some people might see this as “rolling over” to the IRS or the Federal Government; I see this as making my life straight forward.  If the IRS keeps an extra $50 I’m not going to bitch, I live in a good country and consider that $50 well worth it (although I would still prefer to have a flat tax system :^)).

12. If the IRS considers you a Small Business/Home Business (Schedule C), below are some of the things I took away from this exercise:
a. If you handle lots of cash then keep excellent documentation. The “$10,000 question” as they called it was something like “Do you or your business handle over $10,000 in cash money a year?”. I don’t, but it was clear that if you do they will care.
b. Ebay is a business. The IRS knows that. If you deal in online auctions or ebay keep good documentation on your profits, losses and money movements.
c. Use logical math that the auditor will understand.
d. If you are declaring it be prepared for them to ask.  If they are small enough, don’t bother to declare them. $5 in copies, 30 miles on your car and 50 square feet in your house of deductions are not worth it.

For all of those people that can't manage to drag their butts off the couch for real activity Nintendo has released the Wii Fit. I can't say it's not tempting but so far Rock Band still gets my love.