Your blog may cost you real money

Mod-Blog has resisted the rush to Google Ads that many blogs have followed for one simple reason - we view this site as a hobby, not a business, and don't want to subject our readers to intrusive advertising. It turns out that may have been a better idea than we even though, as now some cities are charging bloggers for business licenses, even if they only make a few dollars per year! One blogger, who had made $11 in 5 years, is now being ordered to pay a $300 "business privilege tax" by the city of Philadelphia.

The city disagrees. Even though small-time bloggers aren't exactly raking in the dough, the city requires privilege licenses for any business engaged in any "activity for profit," says tax attorney Michael Mandale of Center City law firm Mandale Kaufmann. This applies "whether or not they earned a profit during the preceding year," he adds.

So even if your blog collects a handful of hits a day, as long as there's the potential for it to be lucrative — and, as Mandale points out, most hosting sites set aside space for bloggers to sell advertising — the city thinks you should cut it a check. According to Andrea Mannino of the Philadelphia Department of Revenue, in fact, simply choosing the option to make money from ads — regardless of how much or little money is actually generated — qualifies a blog as a business. The same rules apply to freelance writers. As former City Paper news editor Doron Taussig once lamented [Slant, "Taxed Out," April 28, 2005], the city considers freelancers — which both Bess and Barry are, in addition to their blog work — "businesses," and requires them to pay for a license and pay taxes on their profits, on top of their state and federal taxes.

This is what happens when the blanket moratorium on internet taxation is allowed to expire. Expect more shenanigans like this as cash-strapped municipalities look for any way to squeeze cash from its citizens.

Steve jobs drops the Blog Bomb on Adobe

It is a rare thing when Steve Jobs bothers to comment on anything that is not his own product. But apparently the criticism over Apple's banning of Adobe's Flash and Cross-Platform Compiler from iPad and iPhones was enough to get him typing. The bottom line: Flash is not on the iPhone/iPad, it's not COMING to the iPhone/iPad, and Adobe had plenty of chances to change Apple's mind in the past.

Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010. We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath.

Between this battle and the Gizmodo legal troubles, Apple seems to have decided it likes being the center of all media attention. Good or bad.

Taking a Break

I'll be taking a short break from blogging between now and Easter. There is just too much going on in my life, and somethings has got to give. Other Mod-Bloggers may be posting, and I may post something here and there. But overall, you'll probably see less action here on Mod-Blog for the next month or so.

If you're desperate for a Nomad fix, be watching for me on the Twitter feed instead.

Two Timing

Blogger from Haiti

I thought Mod-Blog readers might be interested in this blog from Haiti which is talking about the disaster there.

Thousands of people are currently trapped. To guess at a number would be like guessing at raindrops in the ocean. Precious lives hang in the balance. When pulled from the rubble there is no place to take them for care Haiti has an almost non existent medical care system for her people.

Bart's Blackboard Blog

This one is for CRChair - a blog dedicated to chronicling the blackboard gags from each and every Simpsons episode. Both a good resource, if you missed the first 30 seconds of the episode, and a fun place to while away a few hours with laughter.

Hard Cases: Church "outs" an anonymous blogger

It is not unusual for someone to have a problem with the leadership of their local church. Leaders - including pastors and elders/overseers/trustees/deacons/etc. - make mistakes or often are doing the right thing and simply not explaining themselves. My own church has been moving from a pure Congregational model to a more closed model in a way which has been disturbing to me. Scripture has fairly clear guidelines for dealing with such concerns, which generally goes, "talk to the problem person singly, then with one other person, then with the elders, and then before the Congregation." (Yes, Seminarians, I am aware there are many more verses and a whole history here. Feel free to expound in the comments.)

But what happens when a church dispute comes up against anonymous blogging? Should church leaders honor the unspoken agreement of the internet and let the blogger remain unknown? Isn't such a move in line with First Amendment rights of free speech? Or should church leaders seek out the blogger and discipline him/her for not following scripture.

In the case linked above, church leadership erred on the side of control and had a police officer (who also worked church security) seek out and expose the blogger. The blogger was then expelled from the church, as per 1 Corinthians 5:4-5.

To me, this seems like a hard case. On the one hand, the blogger clearly was not following scripture. On the other hand, it appears the pastor himself - in his zeal to discipline - clearly crossed the line to find the offender. Either way, Christ's name is being dragged through the mud, and the gospel becomes a laughing-stock among the world.

What would you do, as either the pastor or the congregant?

Want to follow Mod-Blog via Twitter?

We're experimenting with a Twitterfeed of this blog, for your following convenience. If you're interested, our Twitter name is ModBlog. (I know, you're shocked.)

Every Mod-Blogger has had a moment like this

Irony, thy name is "Internet"

How to destroy blogger credibility in one easy step

Ever since the internet began putting out real news which began to drive the network news cycle, there has been an ongoing debate between old style journalists and bloggers over the proper role of blogs in journalism. It has taken over a decade, but by now most technology shows offer press credentials to bloggers, and essentially consider them to be on-par with old school newspeople. It appears that one tech site, Gizmondo, may have managed to undo all of that progress in a single day at CES (Consumer Electonics Show). They brought a TV-B-Gone (device which will turn off any ir-remote enabled TV) to the show, and started turning off all the large LCD and Plasma screens at the show in the middle of people's presentations. Their gloating video of the event shows many, many examples. The people behind CES are understandably furious and have banned the person responsible from all future events, and I would not be surprised to see Gizmondo itself banned.

This kind of thing may have been inevitable and is probably not so much an internet thing, as a result of the fact that CES attracts young reporters (i.e. those who are not yet worldly wise). But it has done serious damage to the image of bloggers in the eyes of the public and presenters, and is likely to make it harder for internet-based journalists in the future. Perhaps it is time for bloggers to get together and form an accreditation council to which one much apply before being designated "a responsible blogger". This accreditation could then be pulled if something like this happens, which would invalidate your invitation to all future events. Accountability is needed, and it is better if bloggers police themselves than to wait and have Congress or CES work out their own system.

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